Andy Murray and Dan Evans are through to the last 16 of the men's doubles at the Paris Olympics; The British pair came back from a set and break down, before surviving five match points, to win 2-6 7-6 (5) 11-9 against Japan at Roland Garros
Sunday 28 July 2024 21:36, UK
Andy Murray and Dan Evans produced a sensational comeback to survive five match points and claim a dramatic first-round victory in the men's doubles.
Murray previously announced he was retiring from tennis following the conclusion of this year's Games, with the Scot withdrawing from the singles competition to focus on the doubles event.
The Team GB duo faced Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori in the opening round on Sunday, with the Japanese pair winning seven consecutive games to grab a set and a break advantage at Roland Garros.
Murray and Evans brilliantly battled back from 4-2 down in the second set to force a tie-break, which they won 7-5 to level the match, before Japan seemed certain for victory in the deciding tie-break when they moved 9-4 up in the race to 10.
The Team GB survived five match points to level the final-set decider, before winning the next two to claim a 2-6 7-6 (5) 11-9 victory and remarkably book their place in the second round.
Both Murray and Evans leapt around the court in delight after moving through to the last 16, where they will face either Belgian pair Sander Gille and Joran Vilegen or French eighth seeds Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert.
Murray has clearly enjoyed the experience of being part of Team GB again, taking part in the opening ceremony and being a celebrity in the Athletes' Village, but for a set and a half there was little enjoyable about this match.
He received an enthusiastic welcome when he strode onto Court Suzanne Lenglen, Roland Garros' second arena, behind Evans but the stands stayed stubbornly half full at best, with the personal significance of the occasion a little lost amid the wider context of the Games.
Veteran Nishikori, beaten by Draper in the singles earlier on Sunday, has barely played in recent years and Daniel is a solid but unspectacular singles player, but the Japanese were sharper in every element and won seven games in a row to lead 2-0 in the second set.
The British pair finally gained a foothold, with Murray and Evans celebrating every point won with fist pumps and cheers, as they dug in to twice break the Nishikori serve and draw level at 4-4.
Murray roared 'Let's go' when he finally held serve for the first time since the opening game to put them within touching distance of a deciding tie-break, which is played instead of a third set at the Olympics.
They duly set up a nail-biting finale by finding some of their best tennis in the second-set breaker but it looked to have got away from them, only for an Olympic comeback for the ages that somehow extended their tournament.
"I don't think I've saved five match points in a row - in singles it's almost impossible to do that, so I don't think I've ever done that before," Murray said after their win. "It's probably up there in terms of comebacks - probably the way we were playing to that stage would have not suggested we were able to come back.
"In my career I've turned around a lot of matches I've looked unlikely to win or people thought I shouldn't have won - at times I've had that mental toughness, strength that at times early on in my career was questioned.
"I'm really proud of that - I always try my best to fight and figure out ways to come though. I certainly couldn't have done that on my own today - as a team, Evo played his part in that. Evo has shown that before and helped me big time today. We both served well, came up with some great returns and it was a brilliant turnaround."
Earlier in the day, Evans kicked off his singles campaign by battling past Moez Echargui 6-2 4-6 6-2.
The 34-year-old was still struggling with a knee injury suffered at Queen's Club last month and suffered a heavy fall during his match against Tunisian world No 384 Echargui, which required a visit from the trainer to have a grazed knee patched up.
Jack Draper eased to a 6-1 6-4 victory over Nishikori to reach the second round, while compatriot Cameron Norrie withdrew because of a left arm injury.
Katie Boulter, Britain's only representative in the women's singles, suffered an early exit after losing 6-4 6-2 to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
Rafael Nadal will play Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster second-round Olympic clash at Roland Garros after battling past Marton Fucsovics.
The two most successful male players of all time have played each other 59 times before, with Djokovic leading by one, but not since a quarter-final won by the Spaniard at the French Open two years ago.
Now they will meet on the same stage and for a second time at the Olympics, 16 years after Nadal edged a close contest in the semi-finals in Beijing.
Nadal had been weighing up whether to play the match at all after concerns over a right thigh problem and a late finish to his doubles opener with Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday night, but gritted his way to a 6-1 4-6 6-4 victory against Hungarian Fucsovics.
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