On Thursday, Scottish tennis player Andy Murray, one of the strongest of his generation, played his last match as a professional: in the men’s doubles tournament at the Olympics, alongside Englishman Dan Evans, against the American pair composed of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, who ultimately won in two sets (6-2, 6-4). At the end of the match, Murray was applauded by all the spectators in a moment of great collective emotion. Later, Murray commented on his retirement with a message on X (Twitter):
“Actually, I’ve never really liked tennis.”
This statement clearly carries an ironic intent, but also reflects something true about Murray’s career: for a very long time, it was quite grueling, in what seemed at times a nearly desperate attempt to reach the level of the three best tennis players of his generation and perhaps of all time, namely Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Murray did not have an absolute talent of their caliber, but through meticulous work on himself and his playing style, he managed for a long time to compete at their level, even reaching the number 1 spot in the world.
However, the efforts he made were very evident on the court: he was a rather awkward player, visibly showing signs of fatigue and often lamenting and swearing over every error in a loud manner. His demeanor was very different from the class often displayed even in the most adverse situations by players like Federer and Nadal. To many, it truly seemed that he did not enjoy playing tennis.
“I gave everything I could during my career,” Murray said after his exit from the Olympic tournament. “I’m sad to have to stop, but the last two weeks have been fantastic. I really enjoyed being with the team.”
After the final match on Thursday evening, the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association, the body that manages tennis competitions in the UK) announced that, starting in 2025, the main court at Queen’s Club in London (the venue that hosts the annual men’s grass tennis tournament of the Queen’s Club Championships, one of the most important grass tournaments in the world) will be named Andy Murray Arena: Murray won the tournament 5 times.
Murray, who had announced his retirement before the start of the Olympics, is 37 years old and over the last seven years, his career has been heavily affected by injuries, to the point that as early as 2019, after two years in which he had hardly played due to a hip problem, he announced he would retire. In the end, he did not, and his return was instead narrated as quite an exceptional sports story.
A photo of Andy Murray’s retirement in the center of Paris (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Before the injuries, Murray had become one of the best tennis players in the world, to the point that people began talking about the Big Four in tennis, instead of the Big Three (the three greats of tennis, as Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic are still often called). His best successes were winning the US Open in 2012 and two Wimbledon victories in 2013 and 2016, as well as two consecutive Olympic gold medals, one in 2012 (again at Wimbledon for the London Olympics) and the other in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.