By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jamie Murray and Bethanie Mattek-Sands defended their U.S. Open mixed doubles title on Saturday, defeating Taiwan's Chan Hao-Ching and New Zealand's Michael Venus in straight sets under sunny skies at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The win burnished Murray's reputation as one of the world's leading doubles exponents, as the Briton enjoyed his third consecutive mixed doubles triumph at Flushing Meadows.
An elated Mattek-Sands, who suffered a grisly knee injury at Wimbledon two years ago, celebrated the 6-2, 6-3 win by taking a selfie on the court with Murray, older brother of former world No. 1 Andy who also won in 2017 with Martina Hingis.
"We have a lot of fun. He keeps me pretty grounded," said America's Olympic mixed doubles champion Mattek-Sands, who added that she was happy to be back on the court after undergoing more knee surgery in March.
"It's about choosing your mentality, choosing your attitude," added the 34-year-old, after annexing her ninth Grand Slam doubles title.
The match began with routine holds but quickly pivoted in favour of the holders, who played a clean match with just 11 unforced errors while firing off 23 winners.
(Reporting By Amy Tennery; Editing by Ian Chadband)