Gritty comeback extends Andy Murray swansong in Paris
Andy Murray and Daniel Evans fought back to secure an epic victory against Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori in the Olympic Games doubles and extend the former’s farewell run in Paris.
The British duo had to save five consecutive match points but ended up completing an incredible comeback, winning 2-6, 7-6(5), 11-9.
The former world No 1 decided not to participate in the singles draw after suffering an injury that has restricted his movement, leaving only the doubles competition before he finalizes his retirement.
A bumper crowd packed the Suzanne Lenglen Court stands to take in what might have been Murray’s last match but for the British pair pulling off a great fightback.
Each player was able to hold their service game at the start of the opening set, resulting in a 2-2 score after four games. But in the ensuing action, Murray and Evans both dropped their serves and were unable to make any kind of response, which presented a challenge for the British pair as they found themselves chasing the game.
Murray and Evans could not thwart the Japanese pair’s efforts to take the first set 6-2, as Daniel and Nishikori won 89% of points on their first serve and 80% on their second serves in a solid start.
The Brits were off the boil when it came to their delivery and they were also coughing up far too many unforced errors.
Even Murray’s mother Judy, watching from the stands as she has done throughout his career, had almost written him off and had thoughts of heading home.
“I was mentally working out which flight I would get home tonight,” she told BBC Sport.
“But you can never write him off.”
The British pair had a bad start to the second set, losing the first game and giving the Japanese a 2-0 lead in a matter of minutes. The persistence of the Evans/Murray pair paid off as they were able to reclaim the dropped break and even the score at 2-2.
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They couldn’t celebrate the small victory as they quickly lost their serve in the fifth game, again showing the same problems on delivery they suffered in the first set. The Japanese went up 4-2, and seemed to have the result squared away.
However, Murray and Evans just would not admit defeat and they would fight back to force a tiebreak, which they would win but not without a struggle.
Seven straight points gave Murray and Evans an unlikely win in the super tiebreaker that decided the match.
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