Andy Murray and Dan Evans will play doubles collectively on the French Open after receiving a wildcard into the event at Roland Garros.
14 pairs throughout the boys’s and girls’s draw have acquired wildcards. The opposite 13 are all-French duos. Murray and Evans have entered in a bid to heat up for the Olympics doubles occasion, which can be performed on the Roland Garros clay in June. They’re anticipated to signify Nice Britain, although they could not play collectively, with doubles specialists Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, who’ve collectively gained 9 Grand Slam doubles titles, additionally in competition.
Salisbury will qualify by advantage of being ranked contained in the doubles high 10 at world No 5; Skupski is at the moment world No 10, so is in an excellent place however a poor run on the French Open may spell bother.
GO DEEPER
Fifty Shades of Andy Murray
Murray, in the meantime, is the one male tennis participant in historical past to have gained two Olympic gold medals, within the males’s singles in 2012 and 2016.
The i has reported that that is the primary time in 23 years {that a} males’s pair with no French illustration has acquired a doubles wildcard to the French Open.
How vital is that this?
Evaluation by Charlie Eccleshare
Murray and Evans stand out on the wild playing cards checklist as a result of they’re the one non-French pair — on both the boys’s or ladies’s aspect. For the singles occasion, the French Open restricted their wild playing cards to residence gamers, or ones from the U.S. and Australia, as a part of their reciprocal preparations with america Tennis Affiliation (USTA) and Tennis Australia. This meant that even two-time finalist Dominic Thiem, in his ultimate few months on the tour, wasn’t given one. As a substitute he needed to undergo qualifying, and was knocked out on Wednesday afternoon by Finland’s Otto Virtanen in straight units.
Thiem was then introduced with a present by event director Amelie Mauresmo in a particular presentation on Courtroom Suzanne Lenglen. There additionally seemed to be no laborious emotions from Thiem concerning the choice, as he stated: “It was such an incredible farewell from Roland Garros so thanks to everybody who got here who gave me such an incredible assist, such an incredible environment.
“There’s a particular relationship with this event.”
As for Murray, the 2016 Roland Garros finalist will compete in each the singles and doubles in what is anticipated to be his ultimate yr on the tour. It’s maybe a bit stunning that he was given the wild card after the French Tennis Federation (FFT) determined towards giving Thiem, or the three different Grand-Slam champions who have been eligible (Caroline Wozniacki, Simona Halep and Emma Raducanu), one for the singles. That stated, Murray, is a three-time main champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, so it’s not essentially a direct comparability.
The FFT defined final week that for singles, “precedence is given to French gamers, outdoors of the agreements with Tennis Australia and USTA”.
The Athletic has contacted the FFT to see if there may be any additional data on its choice coverage for doubles wild playing cards.
(Fabrice Coffrini/AFP; Julian Finney through Getty Photos)
