[ad_1]
PARIS – Even in the dying moments of a match, as his career neared its end, Andy Murray was not about to say goodbye. Moments after the final point following his straight-sets doubles defeat at the Paris Olympics, Murray was wandering somewhere between his seat and the umpire’s chair when his teammate Dan Evans caught his eye and nudged him toward the middle of the court.
“I told him when we were in the chair, to get out, because he knows his character very well,” Evans said. “He wouldn’t do that. He didn’t want the applause.”
It was no fairytale ending. Murray and Evans were comfortably defeated 6-2, 6-4 by two younger Americans (Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul), bringing their remarkable Games to an end. “It was great to win a medal,” Murray said. But when he finally said goodbye to tennis, he did so on his own terms. “Sometimes in the last few years, it wasn’t a sure thing,” he said.
This was, without a doubt, the perfect time to say goodbye.
Murray told reporters after the match that he had been looking forward to his career ending for weeks. More specifically, he was looking forward to the pain going away.
“The pain and discomfort in my body is not good. That’s why I’m happy my career is over, because if I keep trying, I’ll eventually end up with the injury that could end my career,” Murray said.
Murray’s pain was constant. It was in his hip, where he had undergone two operations. It was the result of abdominal and shoulder injuries last year, and a torn ankle ligament in March. In June, it came like a bolt from the blue when he climbed a small flight of stairs at Queen’s and lost sensation in his right leg, later revealed to be the result of a cyst in his spine.
“I couldn’t walk properly, my leg wasn’t working properly,” he said. “I was told that if the cyst kept growing and putting more pressure on the nerves, it would become an emergency where you couldn’t control your bladder and you would lose control of the other leg. At that point I knew it was time… I was looking forward to the end of it.”
However, paradoxically, fans just wanted him to stay a little longer.
They got what they wanted in Paris. His back may not have fully recovered yet, but he still managed to produce what could be considered a “classic Murray” moment. In his first-round match with Evans, the pair dropped a set and a half before recovering to pull off a solid win that ended with them winning a tiebreak before saving five match points in a tiebreak. In the next match, they saved two more match points en route to another tiebreak win.
Their momentum was building.
“I felt like I probably wouldn’t win the doubles at Wimbledon, but I still dream this week (at the Olympics) that we have a chance to do it,” Murray said.
Thursday’s match came against an advanced opponent that Murray, now older, was not ready for. Most of the matches followed the same rhythm: Murray and Evans would hit a good shot or win a point on an unforced error, though those were rare. Sometimes they were unlucky—a Paul forehand hit the net and fell, an Evans forehand missed. The match ended in the same score, with the momentum of the scoreboard not really in Paul’s and Fritz’s favor.
The Britons, however, saved a match point in the second set — their eighth win of the tournament — breaking their opponent’s serve before holding their own. At one point, memories of previous matches started flooding back to the pair. “We sat there and thought, ‘This is going to be crazy,’” Evans said.
It wasn’t intentional, but Murray’s legacy didn’t need a medal.
Murray has become a true British sporting icon over the course of his 19-year career, a rare athlete who can claim to have transformed sport in his country as few have. He has broken records – the first Briton to win a Grand Slam in 76 years, the first Briton since Fred Perry to win Wimbledon, the first to defend an Olympic singles title – and those memories will live on for generations.
He was a great player, challenging Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and holding the world number one spot for 46 weeks during the greatest era in tennis history. He cried on Wimbledon’s centre court in 2012 when he lost, and cried again weeks later at the Olympics when he won. He won more consecutive matches than anyone in history, and overcame pain in a way that endeared him to the public.
“I’ve felt that a lot over the last few years particularly when I’ve been on court, whether it’s in the UK or around the world, and the support has been amazing,” Murray said.
The last time came when Evans pushed him hard into the field.
“I knew this moment was coming for the past few months, and if it didn’t happen today, it would happen in two days,” he said. “I was ready for it.”
[ad_2]
