Roddick applauds Evans: Olympic glory with Murray worth the ranking drop - "He will not regret this decision"

Andy Roddick praised Dan Evans after his run alongside Andy Murray at the Olympic Games. The British duo had an impressive performance in the men's doubles at Paris 2024, reaching the quarterfinals after two heroic wins, saving match points along the way.

However, their journey ended in the quarterfinals against the Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, in what was Andy Murray's last professional match. Evans was defending the biggest title of his career that week at the ATP 500 DC Open but chose to be at the Olympics despite the significant cost to his ranking.

The former World No. 21 hadn't had a good season in 2024, and the clay courts were not the ideal surface for Evans. However, the Brit's priority was to be in Paris 2024 to accompany Andy Murray in his last tournament, partnering with him in the men's doubles. It wasn't an easy decision for Evans, as he was defending 500 points that week in the DC Open, the most important title of his career. Those 500 points were his main support in the upper part of the ranking, so after the tournament ended, Evans dropped from No. 58 to No. 169.

Regarding this, former World No. 1 Andy Roddick praised Evans on his podcast Served with Roddick for his sacrifice to be with the legendary Andy Murray in his final tournament: "Around 59-60 in the world a couple of weeks ago, that ranking was largely based on a single tournament, right? He wins Washington last year, which is a 500 event—by far the biggest event he's won and the best week of his career,” Roddick highlighted about Evans.

“By opting not to play Washington, (and let's say he loses in the first round, it's the same ending,) but not even taking the opportunity to defend any of those points, the 500 points he won last year in Washington. Because the ranking is a 52-week ranking, those points fell off this week, the week of the Olympics. He will now be somewhere around 170 in the world in singles."

"He will now be somewhere around 170 in the world in singles, which means going from Tour events, going from Grand Slams, going to borderline Master Series, to getting into pretty much any 250, any 500 event, to now going back to the Challengers this fall and playing qualifying for all of those things,” the American added.

“Why would you make such a decision not to defend the biggest tournament of your life? Because you want to pay props to someone you admire and play Olympic doubles for no points, no prize money, with a guy named Sir Andy Murray. One of the coolest parts about this Murray story, on top of saying goodbye to a legend, is this Dan Evans piece."

"What's the entire ethos of the Olympics, right? Obviously, there's personal glory, but it's the feeling like you're doing something that is bigger than yourself, that is bigger than individual accomplishment, that you're winning something for someone else. This story, regardless of how it shakes out with medals, is the Olympic ethos. This is what it is all about."

"This is going to be, you know, one of the top moments—maybe along with winning Washington last year—of Dan Evans's career. He will not regret this decision. It may cost him money; it definitely cost him ranking points,” Andy Roddick added. “Who knows if he gets back in the top 50? I hope he does after this week. But 25 years from now, he'll be able to tell people about this run with an iconic legend of the game, and I guarantee you he will look back and say, 'I absolutely made the right decision for the right reasons.'"