VIEWERS reckoned the BBC served up a mess in covering Andy Murray’s last-ever match.
Tennis fans complained of interruptions and slated the Beeb for switching to other Olympic events as Murray and Dan Evans battled back once more but lost their men’s doubles quarter-finals 6-2 6-4 to the USA.
The Brits were up against it from the start as rivals Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul began well and rarely let up – leaving Murray in tears after a career-ending defeat.
Clare Balding was even more tearful than the Scot after the result – with ex-swimmer Rebecca Adlington consoling the broadcasting legend live on TV.
But fans were frustrated at the Beeb failing to show all the match on their flagship channels – BBC 1 and 2.
Other viewers moaned that coverage on an iPlayer stream supposedly dedicated to the match also cut off to other events.
The viewing disappointment included seeing the British duo trail 3-0 in the first set… before the Beeb switched to a swimming final and returned with the pairing 4-0 down.
One fan posted: “BBC iPlayer now showing Murray/Evans on iPlayer but why aren’t they showing it on BBC1/2. What’s the point of the licence fee? #BBC #Paris2024 #AndMurray #tennis.”
Another wrote: “Why isn’t the BBC showing the Murray/Evans match live? Instead choosing to show other countries doing their thing in other sports.”
A third pleaded: “Why keep moving away from it to hear ppl talking abt other sports. Let us watch it uninterrupted!”
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And a fourth hit out: “@bbc #complaint #olympics you are showing @andy_murray match then suddenly switch to swimming! We miss 1 & a half games!! Shocking. Andy & Dan are most popular viewing & you mess it around. So annoying.”
Another raged: “Thank you BBC for your absolutely useless information on when to watch Andy Murray and Dan Evans in their tennis quarter final.Absolutely TOTALLY INADEQUATE !!”
And many seemed to agree wit this opinion: “So Andy Murray playing tennis is less important than gymnastics or a swimming race that no Brit has a chance of winning. Really BBC???”
The BBC did focus on the match – once the Brits were 6-2 4-1 down.
Murray and Evans briefly roared with delight after breaking serve to cut the deficit.
But the Americans cruised on – before the Brits hit a mini-purple patch when trying to break again at 5-2 down and save the match.
Evans and then Murray suddenly unleashed some crisp hitting that meant one of the best games of the match – which they finally won.
That left Evans serving at 3-5 – roared on by most of the Paris crowd – and he held to 30.
But the Americans clinched victory in the next game – on their second match point.
SIR Andy Murray is Great Britain's most successful tennis player of the Open era.
After breaking through in 2005 to reach the Wimbledon third round at 18, the Scot was British No1 by the following year.
In 2008 he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, only to fall to Roger Federer in straight sets.
Two more final defeats at the Australian Open to Federer and Novak Djokovic followed in 2010 and 2011 before heartbreak at Wimbledon in 2012.
Despite taking the first set against Federer, he fell 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in front of a home crowd before breaking into tears on Centre Court.
But a month later on the same court he beat the Swiss legend to earn Team GB a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
And weeks after that he broke his Grand Slam duck at the fifth attempt, beating Djokovic in five sets in the US Open final.
In 2013, following another Australian Open final loss, Murray beat Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title.
Three more losing Grand Slam finals followed, at the 2015 and 2016 Australian Opens and the 2016 French Open.
But in his third Grand Slam final of 2016, Murray won Wimbledon again with a straight sets victory over Canadian Milos Raonic.
He followed it up with his second Olympic gold medal, beating Juan Martin del Potro in a four-hour epic in the final in Rio de Janeiro.
Later in 2016 Murray became world No1 – the first British man to do so in history.
Over his career Murray reached 11 Grand Slam finals, winning three. He won two Olympic golds and a silver (in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson).
He finishes his career with 46 titles and over £50million in earnings, making him the fourth all-time leader in earnings.
His final match was at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he lost in the quarter-final of the men’s doubles at Roland Garros to USA pair Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz.
