Player Misses Match, Whereabouts Unknown

The sun rose Tuesday morning, but there still was no sign of Murphy Jensen, who was absent from the All-England Tennis Club on Monday.

Jensen was defaulted after failing to appear for a mixed doubles match.

Jensen, 26, was last seen Monday afternoon at a tournament transportation office, an hour before his second-round doubles match with Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands.

When he failed to arrive within 15 minutes of the match, Jensen was defaulted from the tournament. He was also fined $1,000.

His family called police Monday night after he had not been heard from for about eight hours.

The mystery over Jensen’s disappearance deepened as the day wore on. Schultz-McCarthy said she had seen Jensen watching her singles match, which took place on the same court as their doubles match was scheduled to take place.

Jensen left to practice with his brother Luke. When Murphy Jensen failed to appear for practice, Luke went looking for his younger brother.

The Jensen brothers, of Ludington, Mich., are the tour’s most flamboyant doubles team. Their long hair and crowd-pleasing antics have brought them more attention than their success as a doubles team.

The Jensens burst on the scene by winning the men’s doubles title at the 1993 French Open.

Despite their rock n’ roll image, the Jensens are considered more lovable flakes then true anti-establishment rebels.

Still, one ATP official said, “It is not out of the question for Murphy to oversleep and miss a match, or get confused about which day or time he is playing. But it is just not like him to be missing for this long a period of time.”

Police said Monday night they were attempting to locate Jensen and had no reason to suspect foul play.

“So far, all our efforts have yielded a negative response,” a police official said.

Local hospitals have no record of admitting or treating Jensen.

“It’s really kind of frightening,” Luke Jensen said. “All of his rackets are there as well as his plane ticket.”

Jensen is staying in a house in Wimbledon village with his family and Schultz-McCarthy. His mother, Patricia, alerted police Monday night.

“We pray to God he has not been kidnaped,” she said.

The player’s father, Howard Jensen, told ESPN he was not overly concerned and suspected a scheduling mix-up might account for his son’s disappearance.

The BBC told Wimbledon it would broadcast a message, asking Jensen to call his family.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.