Andy Murray’s farewell tour of tennis lives to fight another day after the Brit and his partner Dan Evans beat Belgians Joran Vliegen and Sander Gille 6-3 7-6 11-9 to reach the quarter-finals of the doubles at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The British duo stormed out of the blocks to a 3-0 lead in the first set on the clay courts of Roland Garros before taking the first set 6-3.
Their Belgian opposition offered resistance in the second set with Murray – who has announced that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be his last tournament as a professional tennis player before retirement – and Evans losing the tie-break.
But they went on to win the deciding third set tie-break 11-9 on the clay to progress.
They will take on either American third seeds Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz or Dutch duo Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer.
Elsewhere at Roland Garros Katie Boulter and Heather Watson progressed into the last 16 of the women’s doubles, beating Laura Siegemund and Angelique Kerber 6-2 6-3.
The brilliant Spanish pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal were pushed to a decider by their Dutch opposition but came through to reach the last eight.
Murray and Nadal are on opposite sides of the doubles draw and could meet in a potential gold medal match on Saturday afternoon.