Dan Evans has been praised for sacrificing ranking points to play at the Olympics and help extend Andy Murray’s career. The Team GB pair have made an astonishing run to the quarter-finals in the men's doubles, saving seven match points across the opening two rounds. Three-time grand slam winner Murray has confirmed this will be his last professional tennis tournament and Evans' heroics have helped delay the great man's impending retirement.

But besides carrying the weight of Murray's career on his shoulders, Evans is also sacrificing his own to compete in Paris. The Englishman has knowingly dropped 111 places in the ATP rankings - from 58th to 169th. That is because Evans will not defend the 500 ranking points he earned by winning the Citi Open in Washington DC last year. It puts the 34-year-old in a compromising position when it comes to qualifying for the Masters 1000 and the upcoming grand slams.

But after the dramatic win over Belgian duo Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, which followed a nail-biting victory against Japanese pair Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori, Evans felt vindicated by his decision to play. “What happened again was incredible,” said Evans. “We're getting really close to doing something pretty special. We played great tonight. People see that, see how good we've been in tight moments, and we're getting better and better.

“I thought we were unlucky not to win 7-6 in the second set. How that volley went in, I still don't know. I don't think he wants to go home, does he? He's amazing to play with. I'm over the moon that I came.”

Murray's mum, Judy, brought Evans' sacrifice to the public's wider attention by sharing the story on social media. She wrote: “Most of you watching on Sunday and last night will not know this…”

Earlier this summer, Murray was denied one final appearance at Wimbledon when Emma Raducanu pulled out of their mixed doubles appearance due to a niggle. Raducanu was due to compete in the fourth round of the women's singles the following day and Judy Murray sarcastically branded the 21-year-old's move 'astonishing'.

Evans and Murray go up against Team USA duo Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the quarter-final at Roland Garros. Murray is set to retire at the end of the tournament after being plagued by injuries over the past few years.

Dan Evans has made a huge sacrifice to try to help Andy Murray end his career with a bang. The Team GB pair have reached the quarter-final at the Olympics in dramatic fashion. They saved five match points in their opening round clash against Japan to defeat the pair of Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel. Remarkably, they followed up that sensational victory by again saving two match points on their way to beating Belgium.

They are now just three wins away from claiming gold but their extraordinary journey has only been made possible thanks to the sacrifice of Evans. The reformed 34-year-old was once ranked 21st in the world and has had some big moments in his career, including winning the Davis Cup alongside Murray. But injuries have had a big impact on his career and prior to the Olympics Evans was ranked 59th in the world.

He could have been forgiven for skipping the Games in a bid to improve his ranking. But instead he accepted the invitation to partner Murray, which means he will drop a whopping 110 places in the rankings. He will also lose all of the 500 points he earned by winning the ATP Tour 500 2023 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington DC last year.

But he seems to have no regrets about his decision, saying of Murray after the first round win: “I don’t think he wants to go home, does he?” “We’re getting close, really close to doing something pretty special. We played great tonight. People see how good we’ve been in tight moments and we’re getting better and better.”

Playing with Andy Murray at the Olympics on Sunday was one of the best experiences of my career. Winning in the first round has given us a foothold in the competition, but the match was mad. We caught the bus back to the Athletes' Village after the match and just cracked up. We were laughing because everyone in the stadium was so shocked that we pulled it off. We were trailing 9-4 in the tie-break and most people would have thrown in the towel.

Andy's not like most people, though. He's the greatest British tennis player of my generation. You don't put Andy away like you do most players. Opponents feel an aura that he is never out of the fight. People see him as an angry presence on court, but as a partner he is incredibly calm. The confidence he gives off is special. He's very methodical and when he's setting up for a point he gives off this feeling that it's all under control.

A match like that takes a lot of physical and emotional energy out of you. It's not something we've discussed, but the narrative around his retirement makes it a big deal. He's one of the greatest British athletes of all-time and you wouldn't be human if that's not at the back of your mind. There is always more media around when it's Andy. Everything is under a little bit more scrutiny, but that's what you want as a player. We ate a bit of chicken and rice at the court, had some treatment and then jumped in an ice bath to recover.

Your body is full of adrenaline after a match like that so it's hard to get to sleep. I went to the canteen at the Athletes' Village for a second round of food. They seem to run out of things there, but I had some pasta and got to bed at about 1.30am. Back in the village, there's always something going on. It's like a makeshift town. There's a supermarket, a beauty salon and everything else you could want. I missed the Tokyo Olympics because I caught Covid and that has made this experience even more enjoyable.

On the regular tennis circuit, you don't spend too much time with people from other sports. I was sat in the lodge the other day talking to athletes from the trampolining team. We've got English TV coverage so we all gather around to watch the Brits. Boxing is one of my favourite sports and I went to see Charley Davison in the bantamweight competition on Saturday night. All her friends and family had been invited along to watch and she lost. It was hard to watch because I could see how much it meant to them. Four years and it was over in nine minutes. Sport can be a tough place at times, but on the other side you see someone who is having the best day of their life.

Myself and Andy will be back out today and are hoping to build momentum. I lost in the singles yesterday to Stefanos Tsitsipas, but that has not been my priority. I thought about pulling out after I winded myself earlier in the week, but that would not sit right with me when I'm representing Great Britain at the Olympics. Andy has had a day to recover, so that works in our favour and we just want to start a little bit faster. The parties for the athletes who have finished competing look like fun, but we are not ready to join them yet!

I had to opt out of the opening ceremony boat parade because I had a match the next day. When I saw everyone coming back looking like drowned rats, I realised I'd made the right decision!