Andy Murray extends Olympic retirement party by saving two match points at red-hot Roland Garros

In a dramatic finale typical of the journey Murray has taken fans on down the years, he and Dan Evans came back from the brink to defeat Belgian duo Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen and keep their hopes of Olympic gold alive at Roland Garros.

Murray was staring retirement in the face for the second time in three days on a red hot evening in Paris.

Having saved five match points in the first round, this time it was two as he and Evans came from 9-7 down to win four straight points and win the match tie break 11-9.

The victory sparked jubilant scenes, Murray and Evans jumping into each other’s arms before dancing a jig of delight on the clay of Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Exhausted by the emotion of it all, Murray appeared to break down in tears on his chair in the immediate aftermath.

Typical of Murray, this latest high-wire act between progression and oblivion went the distance to a match tie break, when a point here or a point there was the difference between a game later in the week and heading home to begin his life after tennis.

Murray has been on a bit of a Michael Jordan-esque ‘Last Dance’, his farewell tour taking in Melbourne, Queens, Wimbledon with its BBC montages and Sue Barker interview, and now finally Roland Garros.

Ever since announcing last week that the Olympics would finally be his final act, every match has been a knife-edge of staying alive or oblivion.

On Sunday night it was staying alive, and once again, as day became night on a sticky night in the French capital, Murray – the two-time Olympic gold medallist and Wimbledon champion – kept the dream of a golden farewell a possibility in dramatic circumstances.