Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have paid tribute to Andy Murray following the former world number one’s retirement.
Murray gave a tearful, lingering wave to all sides of Court Suzanne Lenglen after he and Dan Evans were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Olympic men’s doubles on Thursday night in the final match of his career
The Scot follows Federer in hanging up his racket, and the 20-time grand slam champion sent a video message to Murray to praise him for his achievements.
‘Hey Andy, many, many congratulations my friend on an incredible career – Wimbledon champion, US Open champion, Davis Cup champion, Olympic champion and many more things you have achieved,’ said Federer.
‘So many Masters 1000s as well, world number one, and a sir. So, Sir Andy Murray, an incredible effort on the most wonderful of careers.
A great human being and doing it all with a massive family at the end, and a hip and a body that clearly wasn’t giving you what you wanted any more. But you’ve been a true inspiration to me and many of the players out there and I’m so happy you could do it as long as you did.
‘Just from my side Andy, I have so much respect. Loved playing against you, even though I lost so many times against you and it was brutal. Congrats on everything you’ve achieved and everything that’s to come. Only all the best and I’m sure we’ll see each other down the road. Enjoy the moment.’
Nadal and Novak Djokovic are now the only active members of the ‘big four’ that dominated the sport for a decade, and the Spaniard’s future, too, appears very uncertain.
Nadal also addressed a video message to Murray, saying: ‘I am very sad to do this video because you are one of the players that the locker room loves most, for your character, for your charisma and for the way that you have been always with me personally and with the rest of the players.
