Wimbledon 2012: Briton Jonathan Marray wins men's doubles final

Jonathan Marray became the first Briton to win the Wimbledon men's doubles title for 76 years after victory with wildcard partner Frederik Nielsen.

Sheffield-based Marray, 31, and Dane Nielsen only teamed up three events ago but beat fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 4-6 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-3.

Patrick Hughes and Raymond Tuckey were the last British winners in 1936.

"What a great honour," said Marray. "I just wanted to cherish every moment. Thanks to Freddie. It was meant to be."

The last Britons to reach the men's doubles final were Bobby Wilson and Mike Davies in 1960.

Marray had never been past the third round in his previous 10 attempts in the doubles, and had to request a wildcard entry with recent partner Nielsen, whose grandfather Kurt played in the Wimbledon men's singles final in 1953 and 1955.

But instead of being daunted by facing the runners-up for the last two years on one of the sport's biggest stages, Marray and Nielsen were able to provide the Centre Court crowd with a tantalising appetiser for Sunday.

Andy Murray is also bidding to be the first British men's singles champion for 76 years when he faces six-time champion Roger Federer at 14:00 BST.

Following on from Serena Williams's three-set win over Agnieszka Radwanska in the women's final, Marray and Nielsen stepped onto Centre Court just after 17:00 BST.

The only break of the first set came in game seven off the serve of 28-year-old Nielsen.

Marray and Nielsen fought back to break Sweden's Lindstedt in the decisive game of the second set before edging the tie-break 7-5 in the third.

A brief shower caused a delay while the roof was closed at the start of the fourth set, which also went with serve before Marray and Nielsen lost the tie-break 7-5 to set up a decider.

They made a fast start to the fifth set and broke Romanian Tecau's serve in the second game and held their nerve for Marray to serve out for the title in three hours 20 minutes.

"It's insane," said Nielsen. "If you had told me three weeks ago I wouldn't have believed you. It's by far the best thing I've ever experienced in tennis. The crowd got us going."

Marray said he could not quite believe he had won the title, adding: "When I see my friends and family and speak to them about it, over the course of a few days, a few weeks, I'm sure it will sink in a bit more.

"After having a good week in Nottingham a couple weeks ago, I really thought we could do well here. Obviously I didn't think we could ever win it, but as the week went on we kept gaining confidence and coming through some tight matches."