Murray and Evans refuse to quit in comeback thriller at Roland Garros

By James Toney in Paris

When tennis concludes at the Olympics, they are turning Roland Garros into a boxing ring, though there is no more gutsy fighter than Andy Murray.

In the last tournament of his nearly two-decade career, Murray and doubles partner Daniel Evans looked down and out in their first-round match against Japan's Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori.

As the sun set over Paris, turning the sky the same vivid rust as the court, it seemed it was finally going down on the most consequential British athlete of his generation too.

Murray and Evans were tamely brushed aside in the first set before suddenly roaring back to life to send the match into a ten-point tie-break.

Murray has taken us on rollercoasters before as we've followed the peaks and troughs of a career of hard work and endeavour.

But all things come to pass, and when he and Evans found themselves five match points down at 9-4, you realised that even the king of gutsy comebacks - with more wins from two sets down than any player in history - eventually has to call it quits.

On the ropes, it was only a matter of time before the towel was thrown in.

However, Murray did a screeching u-turn from the finish line and duly boomed down a searing ace that nibbled the line and had Nishikori shaking his head.

Obstinate till the last, but surely not? Another match point was saved, and then another, before seven consecutive points later they'd won - you saw it, but you still didn't believe it, another extraordinary match in a career that's had more than its share.

"In terms of my great comebacks, it's probably up there," said Murray, his second round match live on Discovery+ on Tuesday.

“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.

"Probably the way we were playing to that stage would have not suggested we were able to come back.

“Certainly from my side, I didn’t think I was playing well and both of us can play much better than that.

"In my career I’ve turned around a lot of matches I’ve looked unlikely to win, I’ve had that mental toughness, strength that was, at times, questioned early in my career.

"I’m really proud of that - I always try my best to fight and figure out ways to come though.

"When it mattered, I raised my level – and I need to try and find a way of starting the match like that in a couple of days’ time.

"When it clicks for us, we have the potential to play really well together because our games complement each other really well."

Earlier, Evans had beaten Moez Echargui in three sets to progress in the men's singles, along with British number one Jack Draper, though Katie Boulter exited in straight sets.

"I’ve never saved five match points in a row and I never will again – he certainly won’t," he said.

"It’s something I’ll remember forever but it would be amazing if we could go on to do something really special this week.

"He knows it’s his last tournament so sometimes he might think about that but he did a great job of getting us up and the crowd involved."

There was a school of thought that Wimbledon was the right place to bring the curtain down, Murray's farewell there just a few weeks ago choreographed as perfectly as you'd expect from the All England Club.

Some feared an outside court at Roland Garros, late in the evening, would not be the right stage to farewell a three-time Grand Slam and two-time Olympic champion.

Murray would have none of it; he loves the Olympics, carrying the flag in the opening ceremony eight years ago and winning 18 of his 24 matches in previous appearances in Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo.

However, organisers put the former world number one on Court Suzanne Lenglen, and British fans were out in force, waving their Union flags, turning this normally cultured corner of the 16th arrondissement into an SW19 home from home. It was about half full, but it didn't sound like that.

"The crowd helped in the second set and third, Evo got quite pumped up but I did feel quite calm," added Murray. "At the end of match I was jumping around just so happy."

We've come to believe that medals are needed to make an Olympics, but that's never really been true. These Games are about moments, remembering where you were - and who you were with - when accepted reality was suddenly twisted.

Murray and Evans snatching this first-round escape act will not even be a footnote when the story of Paris 2024 is penned, but that doesn't make it any less magnificent.

Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics