ANDY MURRAY'S TEAM GB PARTNER DAN EVANS SAYS HE WANTS TO WIN AN OLYMPIC MEDAL TO GIVE THE SCOT A PERFECT SEND-OFF - AS PAIR PREPARE FOR DOUBLES OPENER

The duo kick off their campaign against Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel on Sunday
Evans said his focus is mainly on doubles despite being in the singles draw too
Sir Andy won gold at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Andy Murray's doubles partner Dan Evans has said he wants to win an Olympic medal to give the tennis legend a perfect send-off, as the pair prepare for their Paris opener.

Sir Andy is playing the final tournament of his career in Paris and, having withdrawn from the singles, his hopes now rest on the men's doubles campaign alongside Evans.

On his central role in one of the key stories of the Games, Evans said: 'It's cool but there's nothing more I want than to get a medal for him, and for myself obviously.'

Evans is playing singles as well but is focusing mostly on doubles having had limited training time since suffering a knee injury at Queen's Club last month.

The pair, who begin their campaign on Sunday against Japanese duo Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori, will not be among the favourites to win a medal but both have had success in doubles before and have played starring roles for their country in the Davis Cup.

'We both agreed at the start of the week that we're going to prioritise doubles,' said Evans.

'It's just how it's worked out with my knee at Queen's, I had to take some time after Wimbledon. We've put all of our efforts into that, all of our practice into that.

'Obviously I've still played some singles but we've been focused on that and we've been doing some good work. I can't see any reason why we don't have a good chance to do something special.

'Knowing Andy as I do, he's as competitive as ever, he's working as hard as ever. He was out there doing sprints at the end of our session and not for one second is he here (just) to say goodbye.

'He's here to win a medal and then he'll do his own goodbye, hopefully on the podium.'

Evans watched from afar as Murray wrote himself into Olympic history by becoming the first player to win two singles gold medals, in London and Rio.

The Scot carried the British flag at the opening ceremony in 2016, and Evans added: 'There's not many words you can say about how big an impact he's had on British tennis, but not just British tennis, British sport. I would say he's one of the leading lights ever to have worn Team GB kit.'

Evans is also a veteran at 34 but this will be his Olympic debut after he chose to skip the Games in 2016 and then was forced out of Tokyo after contracting Covid.

He is enjoying the experience, although he admitted that sharing a flat with Murray and the rest of the British men's tennis team has its ups and downs.

'It's been really good,' he said. 'It's been very different to what we're used to in a really positive way. Roland Garros looks very different, village life is different to what we're used to and it's a unique experience.

'Living with them lot is not easy. Apart from Jack (Draper), I guess we've all been on tour quite long, so we all get on pretty well. It's the first time I've lived with these guys so it's different, that's for sure.

'But it's pretty cool that you go down in the morning to see all the other athletes getting their coffee and speak to them, see what their day's like.'

Evans's comments come after Sir Andy announced on Tuesday that he was calling time on a heavily successful career as he arrived in Paris ahead of his fifth Olympic Games.

Alongside a picture of himself on the podium in Rio, Brazil, in 2016 he wrote: 'Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament @Olympics.

'Competing for Britain has been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I'm extremely proud to get to do it one final time.'

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sir Andy became the first man in history to retain his singles gold medal.

This time around, he forms a strong Team GB roster with Evans, Draper and Norrie, who will all be hoping for a successful campaign which starts this Saturday.

Sir Andy won gold in London 2012 beating Roger Federer in the final and successfully defended his title four years later defeating Juan Martin del Potro.

The 37-year-old, who in 2013 ended a 77-year wait for a British men's singles champion at Wimbledon and won the trophy again in 2016, had previously said that he was unlikely to continue his career beyond this year.

The Scots hero received a star-studded, emotional farewell earlier this month at Wimbledon, the venue where he won two of his three major titles, following a first-round doubles defeat partnering his brother Jamie.

Sir Andy, who had surgery on June 22 to remove a spinal cyst which was compressing his nerves and made him lose control and power in his right leg, decided he was not fit enough for the demands of singles competition at the All England Club.

His hopes of a final hurrah partnering fellow former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in mixed doubles at Wimbledon were dashed when she withdrew due to a wrist issue.

The tennis competition at the Olympics begins on July 27 and Sir Andy, who made his Olympic debut in Beijing 2008, will play in both singles and doubles alongside Dan Evans in his fifth and final Games.

He also has a mixed doubles silver from the London Games, where he partnered Laura Robson.

The former world number one resurrected his career after having hip-resurfacing surgery in 2019 but has struggled to make the latter stages of leading tournaments since and endured an ankle injury earlier this season in Miami.

'I'm ready to finish playing,' Sir Andy had said at Wimbledon. 'I don't want that to be the case. I would love to play forever.

'This year's been tough with the ankle, then obviously the back surgery, the hip. I'm ready to finish because I can't play to the level I would want to anymore.

'I know that it's time now. I'm ready for that.'

2024-07-27T12:12:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd