Andy Murray’s place in the men’s doubles event at the Paris Olympics alongside Dan Evans has been confirmed.
The Scot’s singles spot for what is set to be the final tournament of his career was announced a couple of weeks ago, with Murray securing entry as a two-time former gold medallist and three-time grand slam champion.
But he and Evans were left waiting to see whether they would get into the doubles, which represents Murray’s best chance of a medal.
It comes amid the wait to find out whether Murray will play in the men’s singles draw at Wimbledon in what is set to be his final appearance at the tournament, with his involvement in doubt following surgery to remove a spinal cyst. He is, however, expected to compete in the doubles alongside brother Jamie.
It will be a fifth Games for the 37-year-old, who picked up gold medals in singles in 2012 and 2016 as well as a silver medal in mixed doubles with Laura Robson in London.
Men’s doubles is the only event where a medal has so far eluded him, with Murray and Joe Salisbury desperately disappointed with a quarter-final exit in Tokyo three years ago.
Injury doubts surrounded both Murray and Evans when they retired from matches at Queen’s Club but Evans’ knee problem was not as serious as feared while Murray is fighting to be fit for Wimbledon following back surgery.
There will also be a fourth Olympic appearance for Heather Watson in the women’s doubles alongside debutante Katie Boulter, who is Britain’s only representative in the singles.
“I’m so happy,” said Watson. “This will be my fourth Olympic Games. It was a huge goal of mine this last year. It will be very special to share it with Katie, to play doubles with her there. We get along super well.
“I’m really looking forward to playing with her. We played a couple times, once years ago on the grass, then just recently at Roland Garros. She’s a great girl. I love playing doubles with her.
“I love being in the Billie Jean King Cup with her, as well. She’s such a good energy, lovely person to be around and a good friend of mine.
“I’ll just lap it all up, take in the experience. So far nothing has beat London 2012. But yeah, hopefully this is a good one.”
Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Evans will also compete in singles, while Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski will have high hopes of a medal in the men’s doubles.
Emma Raducanu relates to Murray’s injury struggles and hopes that he will be fit to play at Wimbledon
Wimbledon organisers are happy for Murray to leave it as late as he needs to before deciding whether to play singles one final time.
The 37-year-old is battling to recover from surgery last weekend to remove a spinal cyst that was pressing on nerves and causing a weakness in his right leg.
Murray was planning to give himself until Monday evening, potentially after the order of play is published, to decide if he is able to face Czech Tomas Machac.
Murray got a feeling of what it’s like to chat with himself as he was interviewed by comedian and impressionist Josh Berry
Chief executive Sally Bolton said: “We’ve always got plenty of scheduling challenges to face. As he said himself, Andy has earned the right to make the decision and we will absolutely respect that.
“All of us have therefore got to be agile in the way that we deliver our plans, but we’re really happy to do that. It’s very much for Andy to make this decision and make it at the right time for him.”
It would undoubtedly be a blow to the tournament if Murray is not able to compete, although there appears to be a very good chance that he will be fit enough to team up with his brother Jamie in doubles even if he decides against singles.
“We would love to see him on court,” said Bolton. “Of course, if he isn’t, we’ve got plenty of other tennis going on, but I know the fans will be absolutely desperate to see him play so we wish him well in getting on court.”
Bolton was keeping close to her chest Wimbledon’s plans for honouring Murray whenever his final moment at the All England Club comes.
“We have got a variety of plans sitting waiting to deliver,” she said. “It really is for Andy to make that call and we’ll be ready whenever that happens. There’s been various conversations ongoing for some time now. Andy of course is very focused on his performance, not really on anything else.
“Once he decides to retire and we all get the chance to celebrate him I think you’ll really see how much he has meant to not just the tennis-loving public but the sports-loving public in the UK. I think there’ll be tears around the house.”
Murray confirmed last week that he is planning for Wimbledon and the Olympics to be the final events of his career.
Bolton hinted that the 37-year-old will join Fred Perry in having a statue somewhere in the grounds once his playing career is over, but that may not be outside Centre Court.
“You could argue that’s a bit of an obvious location,” she said. “As we reflect on the shape of these grounds and we think about the potential development over the road, we’ve got time to think about where any kind of physical celebration of Andy’s career might be.
“And, in any event, we’d want to work with Andy on that and he understandably is not ready to have those conversations just yet. We will make sure we get this right because this is for all time.”
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