Jamie Murray believes he and Martina Hingis stand a strong title chance in the Wimbledon mixed doubles after the new-look partnership made a winning start.
It was 22-time grand slam champion Hingis who approached Murray to suggest teaming up for the first time, and she was also pleased with the early bond they showed in a 6-3 6-0 win over Britons Neal Skupski and Anna Smith.
Murray said: "It's a chance to win a grand slam. It's fun and we probably play on some quite big courts and there's a lot of people out there today.
"It's not like that for me for the rest of the year so I try to make the most of it. I enjoyed it. We played well."
Murray was thankful he entered the mixed doubles, given his men's doubles campaign with Bruno Soares ended with a disappointing second-round defeat.
He and Hingis were handed a first-round mixed doubles bye, and outclassed their opening opponents on Saturday to justify their status as top seeds.
Murray said: "I didn't play mixed in the last couple of years because I wanted to concentrate on the men's doubles which is five sets, and it's a lot of tennis if you want to do well in both.
"But for me it's a great opportunity to try to do well in the event, and I'm glad I did because we lost (in men's doubles) and I've got a chance to focus on the mixed and give it our all for that event."
Hingis won the women's doubles with Helena Sukova as a 15-year-old in 1996, before the Swiss became the youngest singles champion since 1887 a year later.
She has become a doubles specialist in the later years of her career, and after a long-standing partnership with Leander Paes has now turned to Murray.
She said she was "nervous but excited" early on but grew in confidence as she and Murray grew to understand each other's game, having only hit for a matter of minutes together before taking to the court.
Asked who made the move to suggest the partnership, 36-year-old Hingis confirmed: "I was the one. He's too nice of a guy to approach."
Source: PA
