Tennis fans were left very frustrated with how many fans were present for Andy Murray’s latest match at the Paris Olympics.
The 37-year-old has provided Team GB with some special moments over the years and he was part of another special match in which he and partner Dan Evans made the men’s doubles quarterfinals.
Murray and Evans claimed a 6-4, 6-7, 11-9 win over the Belgian pair of Joran Vliegen and Sander Gillé after saving two match points.
The crowd erupted following Murray and Evans saving match points to win for the second time in a row, but it could have been louder if more people were in attendance.
Tennis fans criticised the size of the crowd at Andy Murray’s Olympic doubles match
Despite being in control for most of the contest, Murray and Evans found themselves two match points down. But Evans’ big serve extracted an error and Murray produced a solid return which produced another mistake from the Belgians to level the tie break at 9-9.
Evans then produced a great return that was too hot to handle for their opponents to go up 10-9, before he put away a smash off a smart Murray serve to seal the win.
The crowd in attendance did their best to produce a great atmosphere, but there were plenty of empty seats on Court Suzanne Lenglen for Murray’s last tournament, which angered fans on social media platform X.
User @TomHourigan said: “Whether it’s exorbitant ticket prices, low interest domestically or corporate buyout, this is just so depressingly empty when a lot of people here would have given their right arm to see one of Andy Murray’s final matches.
@BarclayCard18 posted: “The amount of empty seats at what could be but won’t be but could be but won’t be but could be but won’t be but COULD be Andy Murray’s last ever tennis match is honestly devastating to see.”
Furthermore, @costarino wrote: “I can’t work out how the Olympics tickets are sold out yet I’m watching Andy Murray in the men’s doubles and it is literally 20% full. So many empty seats… where are the people who bought tickets?”
How far does Andy Murray think he can go at the Paris Olympics?
Murray already has two Olympic gold medals but he is desperate to add a third before bidding farewell to tennis.
He has one final opportunity to add another medal to his distinguished haul before retirement, but it will not be easy.
After defeating Vliegen and Gillé, Murray and Evans will take on either Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul from the USA or the Dutch pair of Robin Hasse and Jean-Julien Rojer.
Discussing how far they can go, Murray is confident he and Evans can reach the semi-finals. “The way the scoring system is, and the way the teams play now, the margins are just so fine that anything can happen really,” he said. “But we’ve definitely got a chance of getting through to the semis.”
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