Australian Open 2019: Jamie Murray says doubles players deserve more credit after latest win

Jamie Murray became the first Briton to win the Australian Open men's doubles in 2016 with partner Bruno Soares

Six-time Grand Slam champion Jamie Murray says the "amazing achievements" of its doubles players are not celebrated enough by British tennis.

Seven British men are ranked inside the world's top 60 doubles players - more than any other nation.

"They should not just focus on the health of the game based on singles," the 32-year-old told BBC Sport.

The Scot and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares are through to the third round at the Australian Open.

They came from behind to beat British pair Luke Bambridge and Jonny O'Mara 3-6 6-2 7-5 on Saturday.

"Right now the doubles games is more successful and I'm sure it will continue to be so for years to come," Murray said.

Earlier this week Murray's brother and three-time Grand Slam singles champion Andy criticised British tennis for failing to translate his achievements and those of his brother and others into grassroots growth in the sport at home.

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Bambridge and O'Mara, both 23, have surged up the rankings over the past year and are on the verge of the top 50.

Murray, who is ranked joint seventh with Soares, is also joined in the top 60 by Dom Inglot, Joe Salisbury, Neal Skupski and Ken Skupski.

Salisbury joined Murray in the Australian Open third round on Saturday when he and American Rajeev Ram beat Pablo Cuevas and Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-2.

But Inglot is out after he and Croatian partner Franko Skugorlosing lost 6-3 6-2 to Marcelo Demoliner and Frederik Nielsen.

Listen to my coach more, Murray urges

Murray puts much of the British doubles success down to training camps held by his coach Louis Cayer in Florida, attended by most of these players, in 2017 and 2018.

Canadian Cayer has worked for the Lawn Tennis Association for more than a decade and was recently appointed the governing body's performance advisor for the National Tennis Academy programme at Loughborough.

But former world number one doubles player Murray feels Cayer, who has been his coach since 2006, has been "under-utilised" by British tennis.

"Apart from me and Dom, I don't think anyone else was in the top 100 at that point," said Murray, who has two Wimbledon mixed doubles titles among his major triumphs.

"Then fast-forward a year and all those guys were well inside 100. They all made huge improvements either individually or as a team.

"We're a country which is desperate to show that we can have success at tennis and that we can produce players," added Murray, who will face face German Kevin Krawietz and Croatian Nikola Mektic in the third round in Melbourne.

"You've obviously got someone there who knows how to do it and how to go about it.

"I think they should listen to him more and have him more engaged at the top making decisions. I don't think that has been the case over the years.

"For me, it's a shame because he is world class at what he does and we're desperate for that in our country."

Leon Smith, head of men's tennis at the LTA and Britain's Davis Cup captain, said: "Louis is a world-class coach and a fantastic asset to us.

"He plays a leading role in how we nurture the next generation of players and coaches and is pivotal to our success.

"We are also proud in how we support our best doubles players in a unique and innovative way as a federation.

"At the LTA we have an excellent new 10 year performance strategy, developed by our senior performance team. This includes launching two new National Academies in 2019, and Louis will be playing a leading role in delivering one of them in Loughborough."