Missing Jensen Tells Family He’s Ok Doubles Player Takes Trip To Country For A Few Days

Missing tennis player Murphy Jensen went to the country to relax on Tuesday after easing his anxious family with a telephone call to say he was safe.

The 26-year-old doubles star disappeared from Wimbledon before a mixed doubles match Monday. His family called police and local hospitals when he failed to return to their rented house that night.

The family issued a statement Tuesday that said he had “taken a few days by himself in the country to relax.”

The British domestic news agency Press Association said it was “understood” that Jensen had gone fishing in the north of England.

Jensen called his sister in Atlanta Tuesday morning and a former college roommate in Los Angeles and said he was safe, but couldn’t get through to the house his family is renting in Wimbledon because the line was always busy.

“Everything is A-OK,” Jensen’s brother and doubles partner Luke said. “We’re not sure why he did it. He’s trying to get in touch with us. I’m very relieved.

“I knew he could take care of himself in tough situations. I was just worried about personal injury, or, being a high profile tournament, someone may have wanted to get some attention.”

Murphy Jensen left his friend and mixed doubles partner Brenda Schultz-McCarthy waiting courtside for their mid-afternoon match against Kelly Jones and Katrina Adams. Umpire Roland Herfel waited the required 15 minutes before ruling the match a default.

“I had no idea what happened, and first I was very disappointed. I was very mad and then cooled off,” Schultz-McCarthy said.

“I was waiting there and I was like ‘I knew you were not going to show up.’ That’s Murph.

“We won the first match and he was all excited. He was saying ‘Man, it’s great to be at Wimbledon and to be playing here. I’m all fired up and it’s great.”’

Luke Jensen and Schultz-McCarthy played down rumors that Murphy Jensen disappeared to avoid drug testing or that he had emotional problems including thoughts of suicide.

Shultz-McCarthy said she thought it was simply a matter of him missing the match because it came up sooner than expected and he was too embarrassed to stay around.

Schultz-McCarthy’s singles match went longer than expected, and the only match between that and the mixed doubles lasted only 45 minutes.

“It was just one of those days that everything went really quick and sometimes, things happen,” she said. “Everybody is going to almost miss a match once in his life. You just make it and you get lucky, but now this happens.

“If he wants to play mixed doubles again, I’ll play with him again.”

His mother Patricia would not reveal his exact whereabouts but said she still had not spoken directly with him. She insisted it wasn’t a publicity stunt.

“We are not concerned about his safety any more, but we want to know exactly what happened.”