Andy Murray's career ended yesterday when he lost the doubles tandem with Dan Evans at the Paris Olympics. The British fell to the American duo of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul 2-6, 4-6 in the quarter-final stage of the competition and, after Murray had already announced that he would not play singles, it was with this result that he said goodbye to tennis.
At the age of 37, the Scottish fighter ends his favorite sport with many wins and titles, which in other circumstances, in another era, he could have easily conquered and added to the won. Murray finished with three Grand Slam trophies, two at his home Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, and one at the US Open - his first from a Slam coming in 2012.
Murray gave hope to many Brits who hadn't seen a strong men's player for a long time. The first Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry way back in 1936, Andy went on to become world No. 1 in 2016 when he picked up his second All England Club crown.
With 46 titles in total, from 71 finals played, Murray deservedly finds his place among the greatest in the era of the greatest - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic who have 66 Slam titles between them. Yes, Murray does not have an Australian Open title, despite playing in finals there in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Yes, the Scot's Grand Slam titles are not enough in the eyes of many pundits, but Murray is one of the few, who are not giving up in the background of negative results against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Tennis players whom he beat more than once, but also from whom he fell more than once.
Murray has been plagued by injuries over the last seven years - a hip replacement meant he would never be back at the level he was in his prime. But Sir Andy Murray deserves respect. Not only because of his success on the court, but also because of his sense of humor. After the doubles match yesterday, he wrote the following on social media: "I never liked tennis anyway"…
Murray wasn't loved by everyone, but Murray earned respect for his behavior on and off the court. And now the British are looking to the tennis player who will make them happy once again - just as Murray did at Wimbledon and other major tournaments. | BGNES
-------------------------------------
Stefan Ignatov, Sports Department of BGNES
