Andy Murray has played his final professional tennis match after bowing out of the Olympics men's doubles with Dan Evans in a quarter-final defeat to the American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
Murray and Evans had saved seven match points across two extraordinary comebacks to fuel an incredible run in Paris that postponed the 37-year-old’s retirement by a few days.
But with a shot at an Olympic medal suddenly within reach, Fritz and Paul were a step up in class. The Americans won 6-2 64 to reach the semi-finals and end Murray’s historic career, despite a spirited last effort when all looked lost to save one more match point.
Murray received a standing ovation and was in tears as he left the court for the final time.
“I knew that moment was coming and I was ready for it,” a composed Murray said later. “Obviously it was emotional because it’s the last time I will play a competitive match.
“But I am genuinely happy just now. I’m happy with how it finished. I’m glad I got to go out here at the Olympics and finish on my terms because at times in the last few years that wasn’t a certainty.”
Murray was told two months ago that he would be forced to miss Wimbledon and the Olympics after undergoing an operation to remove a spinal cyst. Murray was typically blunt as he revealed: “I wasn’t able to walk properly and my leg wasn’t functioning properly, and I was told if the cyst continues to grow and puts more pressure on the nerves, it turns into an emergency situation where you can’t control your bladder and you’ll lose control of the other leg. That’s when I knew it was time.”
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