This is what Andy Murray had to say after retiring from professional tennis at the Paris 2024 Olympics
A legend of the game and by all accounts a good man too, the 37-year-old has called time on his illustrious career after a doubles defeat in Paris.
While it may not have come to an end in the best way possible, losing in the men’s doubles quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday to the American team of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, it appears that Andy Murray is happy with the career that he had.
Andy Murray says goodbye to tennis
On Thursday, playing alongside his partner Dan Evans, Great Britain’s Andy Murray went down in the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles tournament at the Olympics in Paris. It was a disappointing moment no doubt as the Brits had enjoyed a sensational run to the quarters, completing a comeback in the first round to beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel in an 11-9 tiebreak. Then, there was a solid performance against Belgium’s Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, ending in another 11–9 tiebreak.
Yet, it was not just the defeat that brought tears to the eyes of the three-time Major winner, but rather the goodbye that he proceeded to give. Indeed, Andy Murray has announced his retirement from professional tennis. “It felt good,” Murray said. “I knew that moment was coming for the last few months. If it didn’t happen today, that was going to be in a couple of days’ time and I was ready for it. Obviously, I 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’s finished.
Murray continued, explaining that he was leaving the game in the manner that he wanted to. “I’m glad that 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. And even a few months ago, I was told when I first went to have my scan of my back and the issue that I had with it, I was told that I wouldn’t be playing at the Olympics and I wouldn’t be playing at Wimbledon. ...So I feel also lucky that I got that opportunity to play here and have some great matches, create amazing memories and, yeah, I feel good.”
With that, one of tennis’ great players brought the curtain down on his career and perhaps there are few places that are more fitting than Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros. As we look back at his achievements, it’s hard not to feel a sense of sadness given what he achieved. This was a player who was ranked No. 1 in the world by ATP for a total of 41 weeks, finishing as the year-end No. 1 in 2016.
A winner of three Grand Slam singles titles, two at Wimbledon (2013 & 2016) and one at the U.S. Open (2012), Murray played in eleven major finals. Impressively, he was ranked in the top 10 for all but one month between July 2008 and October 2017, managing to stay in the top 4 in eight of the nine year-end rankings during that period. In total, Murray won 46 ATP Tour singles titles, including 14 Masters 1000 events and two gold medals at the Olympic Games. Below, you can see some of the reactions from around the tennis world: