STUBBORNLY, Andy Murray will simply not go away quietly.
Those that had come to Paris to witness the end of Andy Murray will be disappointed. They will have come back on another day.
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What might have been the final match of his decorated career ended up being a rousing comeback – just like he has done countless times before.
Reflective almost of his warrior-like approach to this sport and the fact he does not give in at all.
Just when we thought that might be it, Murray and Dan Evans produced another miracle to prolong his farewell tournament.
They survived FIVE MATCH POINTS to prevail close to two hours of combat.
Britain’s greatest tennis player – perhaps even our finest-ever sportsperson – lives to fight for another day.
A magnificent and memorable 19-year career that saw him reach the pinnacle of his sport will carry on to the second-round.
It did not end after more than 1,200 matches in the dying light of a cool summer’s evening in Paris.
At times, the Scottish superstar and GB compatriot Dan Evans lacked zip and energy and were far too sluggish.
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But somehow, they managed to fight from a set behind against Japanese pairing Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori to prevail 2-6 7-6 11-9 in the first round.
Hopes that Murray, 37, will have a glorious finale this week in the French capital, on a surface that traditionally aggravates his back, will continue for another few days at least.
Court Suzanne-Lenglen, the people’s court of Roland Garros, was less than half full by the time the Brits came out to face the Asian duo.
Most of the locals had gone out for early dinner after watching home favourite Gaef Monfils lose his singles match to Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Murray’s previous encounters in the men’s doubles competition at four Olympics had been a disaster.
Three times he lost in the first or second rounds with brother Jamie and then last time in Tokyo, he and Joe Salisbury squandered a winning position to depart in the quarter-finals.
There were even concerns that this finale would be cancelled after Evo “took a tumble and winded myself a bit” during his three-set singles win over Tunisian Moez Echargui earlier in the day.
The Brummie, 34, had to jump in an emergency ice bath and did all he could to ensure he did not withdraw like Emma Raducanu had done to Murray to their Wimbledon mixed doubles plans three weeks ago.
The problem is that Murray and Evans have simply not played much tennis together and a sign of their misunderstanding came in game four.
There was an embarrassing miscommunication when Murray shouted ‘leave it’, which Evans duly acknowledged, and yet the ball bounced on court between the middle of them.
Murray’s serving was not up to scratch and he was the first player to be broken in the first set.
Evans did not offer up much resistance and when he was broken, it felt inevitable that this was going to be over quite quickly.
When a sloppy Murray backhand sailed back wide, it sealed the first set in 30 minutes, and then the former world No.1’s double fault handed an early break in the second set
They managed to level up at 2-2 and then for 4-4, which they marked both times with joint fist-pumping celebrations as British supporters rose to their feet.
Murray’s clever volley at the net saw the match head towards a Champions’ tie-break.
And even when they were 9-4 down, they never lost hope, managing to pull it back, albeit aided by some horrible chokes by Daniel and Nishikori, winning SEVEN POINTS in a row.
He lives to fight another day and my goodness, he keeps putting us through the wringer and giving us all heart tremors.