Andy Murray details extent of body struggles after Olympics escape act with Dan Evans

Andy Murray admitted he was struggling physically before he and Dan Evans pulled off a huge turnaround to stay alive in the men’s doubles in Paris. The British pair came through 2-6 7-6(5) 11-9 against Japan’s Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori, but only after saving five match points in the deciding tiebreak.

It looked certain that the career of Murray, 37, would be finishing on Sunday at 9-4 down, only for him and Evans to reel off seven consecutive points.

And when Evans netted to give them victory, elation was matched by surprise as the two players embraced.

Like at Wimbledon this month, Murray has withdrawn from the men’s singles tournament following a recent back operation. And speaking after the remarkable escape act, the Scot claimed the lack of match practice had taken its toll.

“No rust from the opening ceremony but my body doesn’t feel amazing,” he conceded. “I obviously haven’t played loads of tennis the last few months and in that time have had an operation on my back and a pretty bad ankle injury so I haven’t played and been able to practice as much as I would have liked.

“But when it mattered most in the match, obviously at the end and in the tie-break in the second set, I still played my best, I raised my level. And now I need to try and find a way of starting the match like that in a couple of days time.”