Andy Murray shed “tears of joy” on Tuesday after postponing his retirement from tennis when he claimed another thrilling Olympic doubles win with Dan Evans where he saved match points for the second consecutive round.
Murray and Evans qualified for the quarter-finals at Roland Garros after beating Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 11-9.
He saved two match points in the final set tie-break, having saved five match points in his opening round win two days earlier.
In a topsy-turvy contest on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the British pair squandered two match points in a thrilling second set tie-break.
“It's obviously incredibly emotional and it was. You're incredibly happy,” said the 37-year-old Murray, who sank into his chair at courtside and buried his head in his hands.
“And then for some reason, I don't know what happened. It was like tears of joy, I don't know why.”
He added: “I'm glad we managed to get another great finish. Things like this leave you very tired. So I'm glad we get a day off tomorrow.”
Murray, who has won three Grand Slam titles, reached world number one and won two Olympic singles gold medals, will retire after the Paris campaign is over.
This year he has suffered a serious ankle injury and had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst on his spine, which will likely prevent him from playing his final singles match at Wimbledon.
Despite saving seven match points across two rounds, Murray insisted it did not mean he would end his career with a third gold medal.
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“The margins are great,” Murray said. “We really have to perform at a very high level some days.
“Wins like today give you confidence and your opponents see that. When you are behind you bounce back and that gives you confidence.
“But you can't have the mindset that, oh, this is going to happen. You know, we have to be ready for the next one.”
Third seeds Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul of the United States, or Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands, are the British pair's next opponents.
A win there would take them to the semi-finals.
Evans described Murray as “amazing.”
“I don't think he wants to go home, do he?” Evans said. “I don't know how he retires like that.
“We came so close to doing something special. We played great tonight.”
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