Andy Murray and Dan Evans are set to play their quarter-final match in the Olympic men’s doubles on Thursday.
Much of the attention has understandably been on Andy Murray as he continues his ever-extending retirement tour at the Paris Olympics.
However, with Dan Evans demonstrably looking to dig out shots he hasn’t a chance of making, chasing down every ball with the weight of British tennis on shoulders, he should probably receive some of the plaudits too.
The 34-year-old is no spring chicken and has been short on success recently, which has seen his ranking dwindle.
With Evans opting immediately to be Murray’s dance partner for his last show, he has skipped a number of tournaments he would have normally played.
Judy Murray heaps praise on Dan Evans as he sacrifices ranking points to partner Andy Murray
The pair have looked sometimes dysfunctional, but eventually always astonished, prancing around on the Parisian clay like schoolboys.
With Evans having won in Washington last year in a glorious week on the American hard courts, his 500 points normally would have been defended, at least a little.
However, with the Olympics offer on the table, Evans has effectively lost 500 ATP points and is set to violently fall down the rankings by 110 spots to just outside the top 170.
Judy Murray shared her thoughts on X above the post detailing Evans’ heroics.
She said: “Most of you watching on Sunday and last night will not know this……”
Accompanying her son to Paris, she has sat in the Murray team box, agonising over her son’s ludicrous opening matches, gritting her teeth through the seven match points they have saved so far.
With Dan Evans’ sacrifice, the spotlight turns back on Emma Raducanu
It was a Wimbledon mixed doubles team that everyone immediately got behind, until they couldn’t.
Emma Raducanu surprised herself with a run in the singles, and with a slight wrist issue, pulled out of her ‘dream’ partnership with Murray at the last minute.
Disgruntled and dismayed that Murray’s career had been halted in difficult fashion, many were critical of Raducanu, suggesting the decision was selfish.
While Murray himself, a fierce competitor who spent years at the top of the singles game, would’ve been the first to understand Raducanu’s decision, the disappointment was still etched on his face.
Raducanu is currently where Evans probably should be, in Washington, as she kicks off her hard court season ahead of the US Open, which she famously won as a qualifier in 2021.
The heroics that have since ensued at Roland Garros have certainly, however rightly, pivoted the spotlight back to Raducanu, with the young Brit perhaps secretly regretting her chance to have been a part of Murray folklore.
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