(BBC) – Jamie Murray and Venus Williams were knocked out of the mixed doubles by Jonny O’Mara and Alicia Barnett in a thrilling final-set tie-break.

Murray and Williams had five match points, but were denied by some brilliant play from Britons O’Mara and Barnett, who won the second-round meeting 3-6 6-4 7-6 (18-16).

Both pairings were given a huge ovation by an enthralled crowd on Court Two, who were sad to see the Murray and Williams partnership end, but delighted by their inspired opponents.

Murray and Williams had led 4-2 in the second and third sets, but O’Mara, 27, and 28-year-old Barnett fought back to move on to the quarter-finals, taking victory on their own fifth match point.

They will face either top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer, of the Netherlands, and Ena Shibahara, of Japan, or Australians Matthew Ebden and Samantha Stosur next.

A THRILLING DAY ON COURT TWO
The partnership of Williams, a five-time Wimbledon singles champion, and Murray, who has won seven Grand Slam doubles titles, was an exciting addition to this year’s tournament, reviving memories of when their siblings, Serena and Andy, teamed up here in 2019.

After they came through in three sets in their first-round match under the Court One roof, most fans on Court Two on Sunday might have expected them to see off O’Mara and Barnett, but the Britons rose to the occasion.

The crowd had been made to wait for the big draw in the doubles, with the men’s fourth-round singles match between David Goffin and Frances Tiafoe, immediately preceding it, and lasting five sets, and four hours 36 minutes.

If anything, that seemed to increase the anticipation. The players emerged to whoops and hollering, with shouts of “Venus, I love you” and even a marriage proposal for the American. The same man then followed up with, “Jamie, I love you too!”

With the attention on their opponents, it was O’Mara and Barnett who first threatened to break when Murray was serving, but after that chance was saved, the Scot and 42-year-old Williams struck in the eighth game, with a Murray ace then sealing the set.

Fantastic scrambling and retrieving from Williams along the baseline helped them get another break in the second set, but, from 4-2, O’Mara and Barnett won four games in a row to level the match. Both produced outstanding play, with three successive volley winners by Barnett, from 0-30 down in the ninth game, and a stunning return winner by O’Mara on set point.

Murray and Williams broke immediately in the decider, but another O’Mara return winner brought them level again at 4-4.

Serving to stay in the match, Williams, playing her first competitive tennis in 11 months, showed how much this meant to her by tensing her arms, and letting out a roar when an O’Mara forehand went long.

Into the first-to-10 tie-break, Scot O’Mara and England’s Barnett raced to a 5-1 lead, but Murray and Williams then won five points in a row. The British pairing came again with a Barnett volley bringing up two match points for them at 9-7, but a stunning exchange of volleys at the net eventually went Murray’s way to help level it up again.

From there, the match points switched between the pairs, and the decibel levels rose as the fans responded to the dramatic climax.

A Williams return dropped just wide when she and Murray led 12-11, but she landed a backhand down-the-line winner to bring up another opportunity to close it out. This time, a Barnett volley kept her and O’Mara alive.

Eventually, Murray volleyed into the net to hand O’Mara and Barnett victory, the crowd rising to their feet and giving both pairings a huge ovation for the two hours and 12 minutes of superb entertainment.