Dan Evans playing his part to extend Andy Murray farewell tour

The duo were pushed to the very limit once again as they booked their place in the Olympic men’s doubles quarter-finals, saving two match points before beating Belgian pair Sander Gille and Joren Vliegen 6-3 6-7 (8) 11-9.

It came just 48 hours after they had fought from five match points down to defeat Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori.

But Birmingham’s Evans insists that this was a very different scenario and, in many ways, he is right.

The British pair were much improved from their opening performance together and were well worth their victory, even if it did not come easy.

Evans said: “What happened again was incredible. We’re getting close, really close to doing something pretty special. We played great tonight.

“People see that, see how good we have been in tight moments and we are getting better. We played good tennis, it wasn’t like the last match where we were a bit off and played good in parts. I thought we were unlucky not to win 7-6 in the second.

“I don’t think he wants to go home, does he?”

Murray certainly does not look like he wants to go home, but Evans played a huge role in ensuring his career extended for at least one more match.

It was his big serve that saved the first match point, and his smash that finally clinched it at the third attempt.

Now, Evans and Murray are into the last eight, with a clash against Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, or Dutch pair Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer up next.

Win that, and they will be guaranteed at least two more matches, a semi-final and either a battle for gold or bronze.

After the déjà-vu of coming back from the brink once more, Evans admitted he will need some time to recover.

He added: “When it went to 8-6 (in the super tie-break) I actually thought to myself, if this goes to 9-6 it can’t happen again. Luckily it went to 8-7 and from there we got there. I’m really tired now and it’s time to rest and recover as that really took it out of me. I didn’t think it would, but it was emotional.”

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