WATCH: Murray gets teary eyed as long farewell begins with doubles loss; Federer, Nadal pay fitting tribute

Andy Murray suffered a first-round exit in the men's doubles in Wimbledon 2024 on Thursday (July 4), with his brother Jamie and him being defeated 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 by Australia's Rinky Hijikata and John Peers. Having already withdrawn from the men's singles, citing injury concerns, the former world number one is now also out of the doubles but will stilltake part in the mixed doubles, paired with Emma Raducanu. After his loss at the doubles, he was givena standing ovation at the Centre Court by fans.

Here is the video:

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Even Novak Djokovic, who won his second-round match with ease after Murray's encounter, was present at the venue and applauded his competitor.

'I would love to keep playing but I can’t'

Murray was teary-eyed after the response he got from the crowd. He told after the loss, "Look it’s hard because I would love to keep playing but I can’t. Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven’t been insignificant."

The two-time Wimbledon winner further opined, "I want to play forever, I love the sport and it’s given me so much. It’s taught me loads of lessons over the years I can use for the rest of my life. I don’t want to stop so it is hard."

He added, "It was obviously really special to play with Jamie. We never got the chance to do it before (at Wimbledon). It was a bit of a race to get out here. Physically, it wasn’t easy but I am glad we did it."

FITTING TRIBUTE FROM FEDERER, NADAL, SERENA

Murray also received a video tribute from his competitors and greats of the game such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. Here is the video -

After this, Murray will feature in the mixed doubles with Raducanu before he retires at the forthcoming Paris Olympics.