Nishikori and Daniel Knocked Out of Doubles in Paris Olympics

Reuters

11:58 JST, July 29, 2024

PARIS, July 28 (Reuters) – Twice gold medallist Andy Murray kept his Olympic dream – and career – alive for one more match at least when he teamed up with fellow Briton Dan Evans to beat Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel in a miraculous Roland Garros comeback on Sunday.

The British pair squeezed past their opponents 2-6 7-6(5) 11-9 and into the second round after saving five match points, delaying Murray, 37, from ending his glittering career.

Murray, the first male tennis player to claim two Olympic singles gold medals and widely regarded as one of Britain’s all-time great sportsmen, said he would not compete in the singles to focus on doubles in his final tournament before retirement.

After losing the first set and going down 4-2 in the second, the British pair stormed back thanks to a strong net game, pushing the Japanese pair to a tiebreak to win the second set.

Probably the way that we were playing to that stage would have not suggested that we were likely to come back. I certainly, from my side, didn’t feel like I was playing well, Murray said.

We can play much better than that.

Nishikori and Daniel quickly took the lead in the match tiebreak but the Britons hit back, saving five match points before closing the contest out in a little over two hours.