Murray’s career continues with thrilling late-night win alongside Dan Evans
The British pair saved two match points en route to a 6-3, 6-7 (8), 11-9 victory over Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in the men’s doubles
Andy Murray and Dan Evans, Paris Olympics, 2024 © Photo News / Panoramic
In a career that has been defined by logic-defying acts of escapism, the man who has overturned more two-set deficits than any player in history seems determined to close out his final few matches in that same indomitable style.
Just two days after Andy Murray and Dan Evans completed the most remarkable of comebacks, saving five consecutive match points en route to a stunning first-round win in the men’s doubles at this summer’s Olympic Games, the British duo have done it all over again, coming through an emotional epic 6-3, 6-7 (8), 11-9.
Once more, a delirious crowd were treated to another late-night thriller on the grounds of Roland-Garros, as Murray extended his extraordinary career for at least one more match barely by the skin of his teeth.
This time, it was two consecutive match points saved, but the drama was no lesser than it was on Sunday night and the feverish cacophony of both British and Murray fans no quieter than the din of the pair’s previous victory.
Again, a deciding match tiebreak was the platform for the theatre, and – as it was two days ago – that inexorable, inevitable feeling of the end approaching was quashed with a narrative turn arguably too far-fetched even for Hollywood.
Yet, Murray’s career has usually been more entertaining, more perplexing and more inexplicable than anything written for the big screen.
So it was again tonight, as the double Olympic gold medallist came face-to-face with the end of his competitive tennis-playing days, only to survive once again.
murray and evans will their way to victory once again
While tonight’s match felt largely about Murray, he was only one half of the team that produced another stunning comeback from the jaws of defeat. Evans was with him every step of the way, through every roar of ecstasy to the yells of agony and the many elongated tactical exchanges prior to serving that laid bare the remarkable attention to detail this doubles team have put into this project.
The contest itself was a very close one. The first set saw just a single break of serve swing it for the Brits, as an early breakthrough in the second game proved vital.
The second stanza was serve-dominated, with each pair defending their service games admirably. Two match points came and went for Murray and Evans in the tiebreak before the hugely impressive Vliegen and Gille took it 10-8.
The resulting match tiebreak was as close as the match itself. But it seemed as though the Belgian pair had won it at the death as they crept 9-7 ahead to earn two match points.
Yet a big serve from Evans followed by a forehand into the net from the Belgians handed the momentum back to the Brits at 9-9. From there, another error followed by a smashed winner from Evans sent the British team through to the quarter-finals in Paris.
After such a desperately disappointing final season on tour for Murray, one that felt undeniably as though it was lacking the finish this career so richly deserved, these late-night survival acts feel like the perfect send-off for a player who did comebacks better than any other.
Following the win, Murray sat with his head in his hands, tears running down his face as he came to terms with how close his career had come to ending.
What transpired instead was safe passage through to the last eight of the Olympic Games, with a superb chance to claim a medal for Great Britain alongside a truly inspired Dan Evans.
They will face either American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, or Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
Regardless of how the rest of this particular Olympic journey plays out, however, it already feels as though Murray has been given an extraordinarily appropriate farewell to the sport he adores – and one that everyone within tennis will be so very delighted to see unfold.
