Andy Murray believes Dan Evans is the perfect partner to steer him to a fairytale Olympic farewell ahead of another make-or-break clash in Paris.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, 37, and Evans miraculously saved five match points to topple Japanese duo Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori and dramatically delay the Scot’s retirement in a Roland-Garros thriller.
They will now turn their attention to a test against either home French favourites Ugo Humbert and Arthur Fils or Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen bidding to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Murray, who pulled out of the singles to focus on the doubles here in Paris, looked down and out trailing 9-4 in the deciding tie-break in the opening round but summoned all those stirring powers of resilience to reel off seven points on the spin and improbably keep a fairytale farewell alive.
The former world No.1 is loving life alongside experienced Evans, 34, and reckons when things come together, they are equipped with the tools to go all the way on the Roland-Garros clay.
“When it clicks for us, we have the potential to play really well together,” said Murray.
“Our games complement each other really well – I certainly couldn’t have done that on my own the other day.
“We’re a team, and Evo played his part in that.
“Evo has shown that before and helped me big time today.
“Certainly from my side, I didn’t think I was playing well – Evo played well at times but for both of us, we can play much better than that.
“It all clicked at the end and we played some pretty good stuff in those points.
“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.”
Murray on the march
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, bounced around Court Suzanne-Lenglen to send the vocal British contingent into raptures in front of a bumper Sunday night television audience back home.
But he will have to do it all again on Tuesday as he bids to channel the spirit of London 2012 and Rio 2016 – where he won singles gold – and keep his faint hopes of glory alive.
That would cap the most remarkable of send-offs but Murray, who has now played over 1,000 individual matches throughout a storied tennis career, insists he is not thinking about the end of the road just yet.
“I didn’t really feel that bad going into the match – I felt fine to be honest,” he added.
“I was a little bit nervous but I like that – but then when the match started and I wasn’t playing well or feeling great and struggling, I was feeling disappointed in the way I was playing and hoped the level would pick up.
“I was feeling it a bit during the match but I wasn’t thinking about 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 serve – and Evo played like that as well.”
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