Sports
Jonathan Jurejko
Andy Murray looks likely to have made his final appearance at the French Open after losing in the men’s doubles alongside Dan Evans.
The British pair were beaten 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) by South American duo Sebastian Baez and Thiago Seyboth Wild in the first round.
Murray, 37, says he does not plan on “playing much beyond the summer” and returned to Roland Garros for only the second time since 2017.
The former world number one lost in the first round of the singles on Sunday.
He took a wildcard to play with Evans in the doubles but, after waiting three days to play again because of rain delays, the pair lost in straight sets.
Afterwards, Murray said he did not “regret” entering the doubles and having to hang around during the disruption.
“It’s been frustrating for everyone,” said Murray.
“I felt like we had a good chance to do well and we agreed if we were going to play, we would play to try and win the tournament.
“I have been struggling a little bit with my back the last couple of weeks, so I probably needed a few lighter days anyway.”
Murray will now turn his attentions to the grass-court swing and start preparing for what could be his final appearance at Wimbledon.
The Scot said he could also play doubles alongside his brother Jamie at the All England Club.
“My brother doesn’t have a partner for Wimbledon currently. We have spoken a little bit about it. So I may do that, but not 100% sure yet,” said Murray.
Cheered on by the bulk of the fans packed into a tight outside court, Murray and Evans led by a break in the first set and twice fought back from losing serve in the second.
But they were made to pay for slow starts in each of the tie-breaks.
“It was obviously a difficult match,” said Evans.
“I probably didn’t have my best match, but we fought pretty hard. All credit to them.”
How did the other Brits fare in the doubles?
No doubles matches were able to be completed on Wednesday or Thursday after the schedule was decimated by heavy rain in Paris all week.
On Friday, Britain’s Joe Salisbury and American partner Rajeev Ram progressed to the second round after a straight-set win.
The pair made easy work of Czech Adam Pavlasek and Uruguay’s Ariel Behar in a 6-3 6-4 victory.
Salisbury and Ram have won four Grand Slam doubles titles together, including the 2023 US Open, but have never gone beyond the quarter-finals at the French Open.
They will face Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov next.
Jamie Murray and New Zealand’s Michael Venus, seeded 13th, won 6-2 6-4 against Spanish pair Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar.
Another Briton, Luke Johnson, won his first-round match alongside Tunisia’s Skander Mansouri, while Henry Patten also advanced with his Finnish partner Henri Heliovaara.
In the women’s doubles, Maia Lumsden and China’s Wang Yafan won to move into the last 16.
But British duo Katie Boulter and Heather Watson lost to Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova.
Lloyd Glasspool, Julian Cash and Olivia Nicholls also lost their matches alongside non-British partners. (BBC Sports
F.A
June 1, 2024
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