Murray makes another great escape to keep career alive

PARIS : Andy Murray staved off the end of his illustrious career as he and British doubles partner Dan Evans beat Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in another Paris Games cliffhanger on Tuesday.

Two-time Olympic singles champion Murray and his partner were cheered on by sizeable British contingent on a muggy night on Court Suzanne Lenglen as they won 6-3 6-7(8) 11-9.

But the score did not tell the story though.

The British squandered two match points in a nerve-jangling second set tiebreak and looked to be heading out as the Belgians moved ahead in the deciding tiebreak, leading 9-7.

But for the second match in succession, Murray and Evans refused to accept defeat and hit back to win with Evans banging away a winning smash to spark delirious celebrations from the British paid with Murray ending up in tears.

In the previous round Murray and Evans beat Japan's Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel in astonishing fashion, saving five successive match points in the match tiebreaker.

The 37-year-old Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, will retire after the Olympics but the ending to the final chapter of his career could still be a golden one.