"Why would you make such a decision" - Roddick has high praise for Dan Evans opting to play alongside Andy Murray at Olympics

British tennis star Andy Murray saw his career come to an end at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, teaming with compatriot Dan Evans in the men's doubles event. Former World No.1 Andy Roddick believes Evans went above and beyond to ensure his countryman and good friend was able to compete at the final tournament of his professional career.

Murray announced he would be retiring after the Olympic Games, and was selected to represent Great Britain in the doubles event alongside Evans after opting out of singles. The duo captured hearts as they displayed grit and competitive spirit, saving match points in two consecutive matches en route to the quarterfinals. However, the pair finally ran out of gas in the final eight, falling to the American team of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

In his podcast 'Served with Andy Roddick', the former World No.1 lauded Evans for putting his own ambitions aside to play alongside Murray. Evans could have competed at the DC Open in Washington, where he is the defending champion. However, the British star chose to forfeit his ranking points by not defending his title, as the event took place at the same time as the Olympics.

“If you want a story of a guy being an absolute mensch for someone else that he just respects and maybe is friends with, I'll lay it out for you: Dan Evans,” said Roddick. "By not even taking the opportunity to defend any of those points that he won ... he will now be somewhere around No. 170 in the world in singles, which means going from tour events, going from Grand Slams, going from borderline Masters [1000] series [main draws], getting into pretty much any 250 any 500 event, to now going back to the [ATP] Challengers this fall and playing qualifying for all of those things.
"Why would you make such a decision not to defend the biggest title 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.”