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Jamie Murray has risen to the top with a little help from 63 partners

Jamie Murray celebrates with the Davis Cup

Jamie Murray has reached the top of the doubles world rankings, but it's been a long and winding road for the Scot who been through a mind-boggling 63 partners in 13 years.

The 30-year-old has risen from 1,266 in May 2003 to world No 1 when the rankings are updated on April 4 playing alongside the likes of former Australian Open singles semi-finalist Nicolas Lapentti, two-time former French Open doubles finalist Pavel Vizner and 2002 Wimbledon singles semi-finalist Xavier Malisse to name a few.

He has been riding on a crest of a wave of late with Davis Cup success quickly followed by his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and he will now become the first British player to be officially ranked as No 1 in the world to cap off a memorable couple of years.

Jamie Murray on top of world
Jamie Murray on top of world

Jamie Murray will become the first British player to reach world No 1

But it hasn't been easy ride for the older Murray brother who has travelled the globe playing Future and Challenger tournaments in order to reach his ultimate goal.

Here we pick out a few of Murray's doubles partners who have helped him climb to the very top of the game...

Bruno Soares

Britain's Jamie Murray (L) and Brazil's Bruno Soares pose with the trophy after victory in the Australian Open men's doubles
Image: Jamie Murray [left] and Brazil's Bruno Soares pose with the Australian Open men's doubles trophy

Murray never looked like he would ever lift his first Grand Slam title - that was until he teamed up alongside Brazilian Soares at the start of this year.

They reached the Doha semi-finals in their first event together and then followed that up with victory at the Sydney International before landing the coveted Australian Open doubles title just a few weeks later.

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Andy Murray watches his brother Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares winning the Australian Open men's doubles title
Image: Andy watches his brother Jamie win in the early hours of the morning at Melbourne Park

His brother Andy couldn't stay away from Melbourne Park, despite the fact he had his own major final to prepare for, and was in the crowd at 1am to watch the doubles presentation. After the match Jamie said he had been inspired by his younger sibling's success.

"Did it motivate me? I think so. I guess it encourages you, inspires you, when you see all the amazing things he does out on the court for the last 10 years," Murray said.

"You see how hard he works to get the results that he has had. It's kind of told me to kind of get a shift on, put in the time, as well, do what was necessary to try to get the best results for your career."

John Peers

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 15:  Jamie Murray (L) of Great Britain and John Peers of Australia talk in their men's doubles match against Simone Bolelli and
Image: Murray and John Peers won three titles in their first year together

The Australian had been Murray's regular doubles partner since 2012 and they enjoyed a stellar time together on the ATP Tour winning in Houston, Gstaad and Bangkok in their first season together.

They went on to claim a further three titles over the next two years carrying them to the season-ending ATP World Tour finals in London in December.

Fleming: Jamie a great story
Fleming: Jamie a great story

Sky Sports tennis pundit Peter Fleming hails Jamie Murray's achievement

But the downside was their struggle to close out the biggest matches - such as the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open. They were the bridesmaid on both occasions as well as a remarkable 10 times on the Tour, including six times in 2015 alone.

On the decision to split with Peers, Murray said: "It's kind of mutual. I think we're both looking to do something else. That's it. That's life. We take the decision and we move on. Maybe it will turn out to be a good decision, maybe it will turn out to be a bad decision. I don't know. That's what we've come to. We look ahead now and look forward to starting new partnerships with new players."

Paul Hanley

Jamie Murray and Paul Hanley talk tactics
Image: Murray [left] and Paul Hanley reached the final in Montpellier

Before Peers, Murray played with 15 different partners in 2012 and enjoyed a brief spell alongside Australian Hanley, who reached the 2005 Wimbledon and 2011 Australian Open finals in mixed doubles.

The pair reached the final in Montpellier that year, but lost out in two tight sets to experienced French duo Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Andre Sa

Andre Sa plays during the 2015 US Open
Image: Andre Sa won the Moselle Open with Murray

Murray and Brazilian partner Sa won their debut tournament with victory at the Moselle Open in Metz five years ago - but that was as good as things got.

Sa had previously enjoyed success with the man Murray toppled to become world No 1 Marcelo Melo - winning five titles together.

Max Mirnyi

Max Mirnyi of Belarus in action
Image: Giant Belarussian Max Mirnyi enjoyed Delray Beach success with Jamie

Murray clinched his first crown with his Belarussian partner Mirnyi at the Delray Beach International in 2008, seeing off the challenge of top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in three sets.

"It was so important to have won Delray, even though it's not a top tier tournament," said Mirnyi. "But to have beaten the Bryans in the final, that meant so much to both of us, and to the rest the field out there. We made a big statement."

The partnership soon ran into trouble after a series of first-round defeats in the autumn and they abandoned their plans of striking up a regular partnership.

Eric Butorac

Jamie Murray (left) and Eric Butorac sit in the dressing room for a photo at Surbiton Tennis Club
Image: Murray [left] and Eric Butorac pose for a picture at Surbiton Tennis Club

Murray lost out to the brilliant Bryan brothers at the LA Open in 2006 playing alongside American southpaw Eric 'Booty' Butorac, but the understanding between the pair looked to be a winning combination.

A year later the US-Scots pair claimed their first doubles title in a Challenger event in Dallas before going on to claim three tournament wins in San Jose, Memphis and Nottingham.

Despite the success, the partnership came to an abrupt end and Murray's form went into a sharp decline, winning only four titles in the next five years.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray (left) and Jamie Murray pose with the doubles winners trophy in Valencia
Image: Andy Murray [left] and Jamie were victorious in Valencia

Sibling rivalries are firmly put to one side when it comes to team tennis, as the Bryan brothers have proven. Jamie and Andy displayed instant telepathy and combination at the highest level and it all came to fruition against Belgium in Ghent.

They first enjoyed success together in 2010 when they teamed up to win in Valencia. This was Jamie's first win on the top level of the tour for over two years and the first time that he had won a doubles title with his brother - four years previously they lost out to top Israeli doubles pairing Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich in Bangkok.

Jamie Murray (L) and Andy Murray celebrate after winning the third set against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nicolas Mahut during Davis Cup
Image: Jamie Murray [left] and Andy were Davis Cup heroes for Great Britain

Their biggest achievement together arrived in the Davis Cup final in December when they were part of the first British winning team in the competition for 79 years.

They remain undefeated as a pair in the team tournament with five wins from five doubles rubbers together.

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