Andy Murray: British tennis great’s career continues after Olympics doubles win

Playing at a fifth Olympics marks the last stop-off on a tumultuous journey which has taken Murray to three Grand Slam titles and the top of the world rankings.

He is the only tennis player to have won two Olympics singles titles, having taken back-to-back gold medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Paris 2024 feels like a fitting place to finish his career but, like Murray has long acknowledged, there is no “perfect ending” for a tennis player.

Winning another Olympic medal alongside Evans, playing in his first Games aged 34, will be as good as it could be.

The chances of that looked slim as Murray and Evans looked set to fall at the first hurdle against their Japanese opponents.

Neither of the British pair has showed great form this year and both have been hampered by injuries.

Murray only had surgery to remove a cyst from his back six weeks ago – the latest of a series of physical problems to have hampered him in recent years.

In truth, it has been remarkable he is even playing at these Games given all the physical issues he has had over recent years.

In 2019, he thought he would have to retire because of a hip injury – famously breaking down in tears at an Australian Open news conference when he revealed his fears.

Not only did he return to play with a metal cap in his hip socket, Murray has won ATP trophies and earned a series of eye-catching Grand Slam match victories.

Evans, for his part, also feared the worst earlier on Sunday.

He fell during a singles win against Tunisia’s Moez Echargui and initially worried he might have done enough damage to rule him out of Murray’s farewell.

Thankfully, those concerns were short of the mark as Roland Garros gave us another memorable night in Murray’s career.