Andy Murray saved five match points alongside Dan Evans in an epic escape during their first-round Olympics match.
Andy Murray admitted that his incredible Olympics comeback was “up there” with his best-ever escapes after delaying his retirement.
The two-time gold medallist is playing the final tournament of his career and he has joined forces with Dan Evans in the men’s doubles. They saved five match points in a row to beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel 2-6 7-6(5) [11-9] and extend Murray’s days as a professional tennis player.
Murray’s decision to retire at the Olympics has sometimes been questioned. But after creating another magical moment in his career, the former world No. 1 explained why he always earmarked the Paris 2024 games as his stopping point.
It looked as though it could’ve been the wrong call when the British duo trailed 2-6 0-2 after losing seven games in a row. But they suddenly turned things around to force a decisive match tiebreak and won the last seven points to go from 4-9 to 11-9. It was a perfect display of the fighting spirit Murray has shown throughout his career.
And the man himself was pleased to add to his tally of epic comebacks. “It’s probably up there,” he said when asked if it was his best escape ever. “In my career I’ve turned round a lot of matches that maybe I looked unlikely to win, or maybe people thought I shouldn’t have won.
“At times I’ve had that mental toughness, strength that at times certainly earlier in my career was questioned. I’m really proud of that side of things. I’ve come back from two sets to love down more than anyone in the sport before and I’ve also tried my best to fight and figure out ways to come through.”
Murray also gave credit to Evans for helping him get over the line. He added: “I certainly couldn’t have done that on my own today. We’re out there as a team and Evo certainly played a huge part in that. He’s shown that too, particularly when he’s played in Davis Cup and when he’s competed for his country before. He helped me big time today and I’m proud of that.”
While his retirement is one of the biggest talking points at the Olympics, the 37-year-old said it rarely crossed his mind during the match. “I didn’t really feel that bad going into the match. I felt fine today. I was a little bit nervous but I like that,” he explained.
“But then when the match started, I was not playing well, not feeling great, didn’t serve well and was just struggling a bit on the court, then yeah I was feeling like that. I was disappointed with the way I was playing and hoping that the level was going to pick up because in training in the last week, 10 days we’ve been playing pretty well and that wasn’t what happened today.
“Yeah I was feeling it a bit during the match but at the end, I wasn’t standing to serve thinking ‘Oh my God this is about to be over, what am I going to do?’. I was really clear about where I wanted to return and where I wanted to serve. I don’t know what Evo was feeling in that moment but he certainly played like that as well. He served to the right spots and hit some great shots.”
Murray has been enjoying his time at the Olympics off the court as much as he has on it. He’s been on a serious pin-collecting mission and has amassed around 60 so far. And, while some have questioned his call to retire in Paris instead of at Wimbledon, the three-time Grand Slam champion sounded emotional as he explained why the Games was the right place to end his career.
“[When] we’re cycling around the village and just being part of it and when I’m doing that, and sometimes just walking through the village, I’m like, yeah like this is what I’m going to miss. I’m going to miss being part of these tournaments and these events and it is, it’s really special being here,” he continued.
“The Olympics was this year and I knew that this was likely going to be my last year on tour. When that was the case, I wasn’t going to play at Wimbledon and not play at the Olympics if I was in the team. I wanted to be here and compete at the Olympics because, well just because how much I enjoy it, how much I love it.
“I think it’s an amazing, amazing event for many more reasons than just the tennis. I knew this was going to be my last event from a few months ago, it was dependent on whether I got into the tournament, what was going to happen with the doubles and stuff but I wanted this to be my final tournament, not Wimbledon.”
