Andy Murray joked he ‘never even liked tennis anyway’ after calling time on his glittering career.
The 37-year-old announced prior to the Paris Olympics that the 2024 Games would be the final tournament of his career having been plagued by injuries over the years.
And that was confirmed on Thursday night after he and Team GB doubles partner Dan Evans lost to American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals.
Across the tournament at Roland Garros, the British duo saved nine match points – including two in their straights sets defeat.
The emotion was there for all to see in Murray‘s face in the seconds that followed their exit, with the Scotsman fighting back the tears at Court Suzanne-Lenglen
Even presenter Clare Balding was left reeling on live TV as she choked up while thanking Murray for entertaining fans since 2005.
Murray walks away from tennis having racked up three-time Grand Slam titles and as many Olympics medals – winning the gold in the men’s singles at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
But in brilliant Murray fashion, he took to social media to issue a five-word post to summarise his 19-year professional career.
He wrote on X: “Never even liked tennis anyway.”
..The post has since been viewed close to 20 million times, with over 600,000 people liking his brief statement at the time of writing.
And Murray has also been quick to change his X bio from, ‘I play tennis’, to, ‘I played tennis’.
Immediately after Murray and Evans’ defeat, the Lawn Tennis Association announced they would be honouring him at the Queen’s Club as a result of his record five tournament victories there.
It was revealed that the Centre Court at the iconic pre-Wimbledon grass competition would be renamed as the Andy Murray Arena.
LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd said of Murray: “Andy is the greatest tennis player ever to come from this country and a giant of British sport.
“His contribution to the game is immense and has brought us all so many moments of pride.
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“He was relentless in his pursuit of excellence and had a single-minded determination to succeed.
“His brilliance on court bought to an end the long wait for a British male singles winner at Wimbledon, brought home Olympic gold and silver medals and he was the driving force behind Britain’s 2015 Davis Cup success.
“Anyone who ever saw him play knows he put his heart and soul into his performances on the court.
His incredible work ethic and love for the sport was demonstrated by his repeated returns from injury, when many others would not have had the resolve.
“Perhaps equal to his on-court success was his attitude in championing equality and diversity right across the sport.
