Andy Murray’s Wimbledon farewell tour starts by losing in doubles against his brother
Andy Murray and his older brother, Jamie, have lost in the opening match of the doubles tournament at Wimbledon. The match on Thursday played at Centre Court was the first stage of Murray’s final tour of his home club, the All England Club.
LONDON (AP) — There were tears from Andy Murray . Standing ovations from the Centre Court crowd. A video tribute replete with messages from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams. And, yes, a doubles match Murray played alongside his brother Thursday, all part of the first stop on the two-time Wimbledon singles champion’s farewell tour at a tournament that meant so much to him.
The Murrays fell 7-6 (6) and 4-4 in the opening round of the men’s doubles match with Rinky Hijikata, and John Peers — but the outcome was, in truth not important at this point.
“The match itself was hard physically. It was a struggle for me. … I was blessed to be even able to go on the court and take part,” said Murray, who underwent surgery to remove the spinal cyst just two weeks ago. The surgery forced Murray to quit singles.
“It was pretty emotional,” Murray declared about the post-match tribute. “Watching this video has been great but also very difficult for me personally. Because you’re nearing an end to something you absolutely loved for so long. It was a bit difficult.”
The match was also the very first occasion that a first-round men’s doubles match was played at the tournament’s main venue in over 30 years. It was a fitting way for him to start to end his journey — and for his numerous fans to show their appreciation and best wishes, too.
Murray is 37 years old and hails from Scotland Murray, who is 37 years old from Scotland, has announced that the time is now for him to retire having played in the All England Club, where Murray also plays in mixed doubles alongside the 2021 U.S. Open winner Emma Raducanu and also the Paris Olympics beginning in the middle of this month.
“I’m ready to finish playing,” Murray declared, “because I can’t play to the level I want to anymore.”
Murray sometimes fumbled around by his back, and appeared uneasy while playing however he let his scream of joy after striking a forehand return that was a winner to make it an unbeaten 2-0 lead during the 2nd set. the kind of shot that enabled him to reach the No. 1. in his rankings.
It is the first time that the Murray siblings been together in the All England Club. They threw fists at each other before the game began, they slapped their palms in between points. The mother of the boys, Judy, who taught tennis to both boys was in a box for guests, along with Andy’s wife Kim as well as two of the four children from the couple.
“It was a fun experience for me to be out there and play with him,” Jamie declared. “It was sort of strange knowing what the background was.”
Jamie’s younger brother was a star in the UK after winning Wimbledon in 2013. This made his the first British man to win in one-on-one tennis in Wimbledon’s All England Club in 77 years. He won again in the year 2016.
The second Grand Slam trophy came at the U.S. Open in 2012 in the same year that he took home his first gold medal in singles during the London Olympics at Centre Court — “One of my favorite days I’ve ever had, certainly as an athlete,” the player declared on Thursday. And the next one, at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 was the first time he was the only person to have two consecutive wins.
There were a few routine mannerisms he used to use that he would perform, such as pulling at the white brim, reaching over to pull the tongues on his shoes, or holding his fist in a tight grip while gazing towards the crowd. There was less of the brimstone and fire his name was known for, or the swearing and muttering directed toward his teammates or, similarly, his own.
“Sometimes,” Djokovic said in the video of four minutes “it looked like you against the world.”
Then Federer took the stage to add: “But you were never all on your own. Because, as were carrying your own hopes but yours was also theirs.” refers to Murray’s numerous supporters.
Following the event, Murray received a warm welcome from many former and current players who were present, including Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Lleyton Hewitt, Holger Rune, Cam Norrie, Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe.
Then Murray came across to his brother then they hugged.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis