Saturday, November 23, 2024

Olympics tennis: Andy Murray and Dan Evans through to Paris 2024 quarter-finals

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Everything has been said before. Many times. And even just two days ago, in fact.

Murray is the man who never gives up, displaying a resilience to go with the ability and which has led to a rollercoaster career.

How many more times can he achieve the barely-achievable?

Here, alongside 34-year-old Evans, the pair are continuing to perform miracles.

On Sunday, they fought off five match points in a first-to-10 deciding set against Japan’s Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori before completing a miraculous comeback.

Two nights later, in sweltering conditions on the same court at Roland Garros, their next outing seemed it could be heading towards a victory with fewer complications.

How naive.

A high-energy start from the Britons was a stark contrast to their opening win against Daniel and Nishikori.

After coming through two break points when Evans served to open the match, they broke decisively in the second game and fought off another opportunity for the Belgians to secure the first set.

Murray and Evans faded slightly in the second set, but they still did not face a break point.

Then came the drama of the second-set finale and the match tie-break.

“What happened again was incredible,” Evans said.

“We’re getting really close to doing something pretty special. We played great tonight.

“People see that, see how good we’ve been in tight moments, and we’re getting better and better.”

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