Andy Murray and Dan Evans draw Japanese pair in Olympics first round
![Andy Murray](/_w750/uploads/news/112/11256/5/11256542-andy-murray-and-dan-evans-draw-japanese-pair-in-olympics-first-round.jpg.webp)
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Andy Murray will be up against a player from Japan in the first match of his last tennis tournament. This comes after he announced that he will not be competing in the singles event at the Paris Olympics.
The athlete, who has won gold twice before, is not completely healed yet from the surgery on his back that he had last month. He thinks that his best opportunity for winning another medal is in the men's doubles event, where he is partnering with Dan Evans.
Murray announced that he has decided to pull out of the singles competition in order to focus on playing doubles with Dan.
We have been working well together and our team is performing at a high level. We are excited to begin playing and represent Great Britain once again.
Murray and Evans have a lot of experience playing doubles, even though they have never teamed up together. They seem to have a good shot at moving on to the next round after being matched up against the Japanese duo of Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori. The exact date of their match will be disclosed once the order of play is released.
Murray, who achieved first place in singles in London and Rio, as well as second place in mixed doubles with Laura Robson in 2012, announced earlier this week that he will be retiring after the Olympics.
Talking at the draw event at Roland Garros, the 37-year-old expressed: "The Olympics has been very important to me, I have had wonderful moments playing there, particularly in London, winning medals was an incredible experience."
I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do this again. I have been training hard for the past few weeks to prepare for both singles and doubles matches. However, as I am getting older, I am finding it more challenging to recover quickly.
I didn't have enough time, but I'm excited to be partnering with Dan in the doubles match. We have good chemistry on the court and I'm optimistic about our chances of success.
Novak Djokovic, who is seeking to win the only major title he hasn't captured yet, holds the top seed in the men's singles competition since world number one Jannik Sinner is not playing due to tonsillitis.
There is a possibility of an exciting second-round match between the Serbian player and 14-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal. This is because they were both placed in the same part of the tournament bracket.
Nadal decided to skip Wimbledon in order to focus on practicing on clay courts after losing in the first round of the French Open to Alexander Zverev. He must be feeling frustrated with his luck once more.
I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do this again.
He expressed his joy at being in this incredible city and specifically at Roland Garros, which holds a special place in his heart as the most important location in the world of tennis.
"I'm thrilled to be back here again. This year, I didn't get to spend much time at Roland Garros. The Olympics is a whole new experience and I'm just focused on savoring every moment."
The top-ranked British player, Jack Draper, will be facing off against Nishikori, while Cameron Norrie is likely to face the current French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz if he can defeat Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor in the opening match.
Evans is focusing on playing doubles, but he has also signed up for singles and is set to play against Tunisian player Moez Echargui.
Katie Boulter is the only British player in the women's singles tournament and she will compete against Slovakian player Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the opening round.
The top pick for the gold medal at the Olympics will be Iga Swiatek, who has won the French Open four times. Following closely behind as the second seed is American player Coco Gauff. Former world number ones Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber will go head-to-head in the first round of the competition.
Three-time winner of major tennis tournaments, Kerber, said on Thursday that she would also be retiring from professional tennis after the Paris tournament, following in Murray's footsteps.
In the women's competition, one of the top players, world number four Elena Rybakina, had to withdraw from the tournament due to illness on Thursday evening.
Britain's most likely chance for a medal is in the men's doubles event. The fifth seeded duo of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski will face the Czech team of Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek in their first match.
In an exciting match-up, Nadal and Alcaraz team up to play against Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni from Argentina, while Boulter and Heather Watson have a challenging match against Kerber and Laura Siegemund from Germany in the women's doubles event.
Salisbury and Watson are also set to vie for the mixed doubles title.