Andy Murray has retired from tennis following his defeat with Dan Evans at the Olympics.
Andy Murray has retired from tennis after his defeat with Dan Evans at the Olympics
Andy Murray has admitted he is at peace with his decision to retire from tennis after his defeat at the Olympics. The British sporting icon has bowed out after feeling that he was no longer able to compete physically at the highest level.
Murray played in the doubles event in Paris alongside Dan Evans. The experienced duo managed two remarkable victories before losing in the quarter-final against Team USA pairing Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray’s retirement has been coming for a while. He admitted earlier this year that he would not continue beyond the summer, before revealing earlier this month that he would retire after the Olympics – having won the singles tournament twice at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
The former world No 1 has played for much of the past half-decade with a metal hip and underwent surgery earlier this summer after a cyst was located on his spine. He managed one final Wimbledon farewell – playing alongside brother Jamie in the doubles – and was keen for the Olympics to be his swansong.
Murray told Eurosport: “A few months ago I was not looking forward to it. Like in most jobs when people retire generally it’s more of a celebration because they’re looking forward to it.
“I’ve obviously loved playing tennis so I wasn’t necessarily really looking forward to that moment. But after I had the operation on my back at Queen’s, I was struggling to walk. It was kind of an emergency operation that I had to have.
“I’ve been looking forward to the end [since then] because physically it’s been tough and I’m not able to move around the court and do the things I want to do physically.
“Therefore I can’t compete to the level that I want to. So yeah I’m happy to be finishing now. I was worried about it in the last year or 18 months, what I’d do with myself, but I’m looking forward to the end.”
Andy Murray and Dan Evans were beaten by Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul
In a thrilling Olympic campaign, it seemed Murray and Evans would refuse to be defeated. They saved five match points before beating Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel in the first round. Belgium’s Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen were then edged out on an entertaining tiebreak.
Just one more win would have sealed the prospect of a medal, but despite roaring back from 5-1 down in the second set to be within touching distance of their rivals at 5-4, Murray and Evans bowed out 6-2 6-4.
Murray’s retirement was sealed with an amendment to his social media profile. For much of his career, his X bio has read “I play tennis”, but he changed it to “I played tennis” on Thursday night. He signed off with an amusing post, which read: “Never even liked tennis anyway.”
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