Andy Murray shed tears after he was given an emotional send-off in his penultimate Wimbledon appearance.
This year will be the tennis legend’s last showing at Wimbledon and he has already made history with his doubles match with brother Jamie being moved to Centre Court.
It was the first time a first-round men’s doubles match has been put on Centre Court since 1995 and while it ended in elimination, the result was almost a sidebar with more people interested in seeing the two-time Wimbledon winner in action one more time.
An adoring Wimbledon crowd welcomed the Murray brothers, standing for two minutes and applauding as Andy went through his warm-up, though it was not enough as the Brits crashed out 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
“Goosebumps!” BBC pundit John McEnroe said. “It’s been a rough ride for Andy Murray for quite a few years.
“It’s been harsh in a lot of ways but he has handled it with class and he is going to handle this exit with class as well.
“Andy will manoeuvre his way around the court so that he doesn’t do himself too much damage.”
The Murray brothers faced off against Australian pair Rinky Hijikata and John Peers, a formidable duo in tennis doubles.
A gruelling first set went the distance that eventually went the way of Hijikata and Peers 7-6 (8-6) and there were flashes of Murray feeling the pain that has dogged him for so long now.
And the fairytale was over by the next set with the Aussies sweeping home 6-4 to take the match 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 and eliminate the Murrays from Wimbledon doubles.
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It might have ended in defeat but Murray was more happy to play alongside his brother at Wimbledon, saying: “Yeah it was obviously really special. We never got the chance to do it before. There was a chance this year.
“Jamie’s usual partner was playing with Neal Skupski so he asked me.
“Obviously it was a bit of a race against time to try and get out here and physically it wasn’t easy today but I’m glad we were able to get out here and do this one time together.”
Tennis legend Sue Barker came onto Centre Court to speak to Murray about his career as an emotional montage played on the big screen, with no one going anywhere as they drank in every second.
Murray, who shed a few tears, continued to Barker: “It’s always really difficult to speak after a loss, particularly after a Grand Slam final and being at Wimbledon.
“That’s the closest I had been and it was obviously difficult. It was quite an important moment in my career.
“I’m not saying I’m the most outgoing or bubbly personality, but I think people probably saw how much I cared about the sport for the first time maybe.
“Obviously it was an important match and important moment in my career.”
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While Murray has already pulled out of the men’s singles tournament, he will make an appearance alongside Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles later in the week.
The 21-year-old admitted it was a request she could not refuse.
Murray won Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016 but has spent several years battling injuries and his time on the court is set to come to an end.
He underwent surgery to remove a spinal cyst ten days ago, but has run out of time to be fit enough to compete in the singles.
Before the tournament, the 37-year-old said he had been fighting hard in rehab to prove his fitness ahead of Wimbledon this summer.
Last week, he said: “I have just been trying to do everything I can to try and get ready to start the tournament here. I don’t know if that’s going to be enough.
“Like I said a few days ago, I want to give it every single chance that I can to get there.”