Andy Murray explains what was completely different about his second match at the Paris Olympics compared to his second.
Once the 37-year-old and Dan Evans saved two match points before emerging victorious. The British pair jumped for joy after defeating Belgium’s Joran Vliegen and Sander Gillé 6-4, 6-7, 11-9 to reach the quarter-finals.
Murray and Evans fought for every point and came up with key shots at crucial times to get over the line.
They are now just one match away from having the chance to compete for a medal in what would be a storybook ending for Murray, who is retiring after the Olympics.
What does Andy Murray think changed about his performance at the Paris Olympics?
In round one, Murray and Evans saved five match points in the deciding match tiebreak to reach the second round at the Paris Olympic Games.
The former World number one was not happy with the performance in that match though they sealed a win, but was happy with an improved performance in round two. Despite needing to save match points once again, Murray was more encouraged by the level of play.
“The first match was obviously quite different to today. We really didn’t play well in the first round, we were very lucky. And then today was kind of the opposite,” he said.
“If I was standing here having lost that match I think me and Dan would’ve been really disappointed because we played well, much better than the first match.
“I served way better than I did on the first day. And yeah, we deserved to win today and obviously great to save a couple more match points but probably shouldn’t have gotten to that stage.”
What is Dan Evans sacrificing by playing at the Paris Olympics alongside Andy Murray?
Evans has been superb alongside Murray at the Olympics. He is desperate to win a medal not only for himself but so Murray can have a fairytale ending to his glittering career.
To try and achieve this, Evans has skipped the ongoing Washington Open, where he was the defending champion.
Therefore, he will lose the 500 ranking points he won in the US capital and as a result, he will be ranked outside of the Top 170 next week. But that is far from Evans’ mind right now as he enjoys his Olympic experience.
“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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