By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
It’s a match that will live in the lore of Olympic tennis history and in the history of the career of Andy Murray.
Playing the last tournament of his storied and Hall of Fame career, Andy Murray and partner Dan Evans saved five successive match points – and five successive career-ending points for Murray – while training 9-4 in the decisive first-to-10-points match tiebreaker to beat the Japanese pair of Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel 2-6, 7-6, (11-9) in the first round of the men’s doubles competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Murray, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner in singles and a winner of two Wimbledon titles and one U.S. Open singles title, had announced that he would end his career at the Olympic Games at Roland Garros. He originally wanted to play singles but a back cyst issue suffered at the Wimbledon tune-up event at Queens Club five weeks ago prevented him from having a singles farewell, settling for just doubles for Britain with Evans.
Here is how Murray and Evans were able to stage one of the greatest comebacks in Olympic tennis history, played on the Suzanne Lenglen Stadium at Roland Garros.
With the Japanese pair leading 8-4, Daniel rips a forehand swinging volley for a winner and he and Nishikori take a 9-4 lead in the match tiebreaker and give them quintuple match point.
It would be the last point they win in the match.
At 9-4, Murray hits an ace out wide past Daniel on the ad side to close the lead to 9-5. On the next point, Murray misses his first serve and Nishikori rips a backhand down the line that just lands long out of the reach of Murray, who moved to his left after Evans crossed at the net. “This could get very interesting,” says Jimmy Arias on the Peacock broadcast of the match in the United States at this point.
Nishikori then serves at 9-6, triple match point, to Murray on the ad side. He just misses an ace down the T, but incredibly, double faults. It is now 9-7 for Japan.
“You can see a little tightness in Taro Daniel’s fae after that double fault,” Arias then says on Peacock.
Evans hits a lob return off of Nishikori’s return and a short rally ensues that ends with Nishikori netting a forehand down the line. It is now 9-8 for Japan.
Evans serves to Daniel on the ad side and hits a swinging forehand volley winner down the alley off of Daniel’s lob return to tie the match tiebreaker at 9-9.
“He knows that Murray’s career hangs on that shot,” says Arias of the bravery of Evans to hit such a bold shot under the circumstance.
At 9-9, Evans hits a big serve that Nishikori lunges to and blocks back with a backhand that soars long. Evans and Murray now have their own match point after winning their sixth straight point.
Daniel, now serving to stay in the match, serves to Murray on the ad side. Murray moves in for the return off the toss and rips a forehand up-the-line, but Nishikori, at the net, has already crossed looking to poach a volley. Daniel, on the baseline, slides into Murray’s forceful shot and flails at it with a squash shot, but it stopped at the net and Murray and Evans stage the incredible comeback win by winning the last seven points of the match.
“Can you believe it,” says Jason Goodall on Peacock. “Incredible scenes in Paris for Dan Evans and Andy Murray.”
Arias then puts what he just saw in perspective.
“What we saw, there is almost a zero percent chance that was possible.”
Read about Andy Murray’s career rise, capped with his historic win at Wimbledon in 2013, where he became the first British man in 77 years to win the men’s singles title at the All England Club in the book “Andy Murray: Wimbledon Champion” for sale and download here: https://a.co/d/edIdtqQ
