Andy and Jamie Murray fall short in Wimbledon appearance like no other

“I want to play forever,” quavered Andy Murray, on an evening quite unlike any that Centre Court had seen. For a player who has never been shy of amplifying his emotions, it was only fitting that he brought his Wimbledon career to a thunderous crescendo here, with a doubles defeat alongside his brother Jamie drowned out by an ovation that felt as if it would never end. In many ways, it was the moment he had feared, bidding goodbye to a stage he was desperate not to relinquish. But he navigated the sentiment of it all with grace, with one last back-and-forth with Sue Barker bringing some levity amid the tears.

Murray had a sense that Wimbledon were not merely wheeling out the violins if he lost this match, but an entire string section. And so after succumbing in straight sets, he dashed off court briefly, composing himself for the onslaught. By the time he returned, a Mount Rushmore of past champions, including Novak Djokovic, John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova, had assembled to salute him. When Barker emerged from her own enforced retirement to lead the encomiums, it was all he could do to stop dissolving altogether.

To his great credit, he not only kept his poise but delivered a string of deadpan one-liners. If Murray is still struggling to discover his purpose beyond playing – and he dropped a heavy hint that he might consider coaching – he could yet have an unlikely future as a stand-up. The stories in his on-court speech were perfectly pitched, encompassing everything from vomiting in a taxi after his 2016 Wimbledon win to giving his children piggy-backs straight after back surgery. There was pathos, too, as he laid bare the cumulative toll his injury battles had taken. “We’ve worked extremely hard just to be on the court competing,” he said of the family sacrifice. “It’s probably not on the level that any of us wanted, but we tried.”

Perseverance: it is still Murray’s truly outstanding quality, after 19 years of what his mother Judy calls a “complete and utter grind”. It was on display once again, as he shared the curtain-call with his brother. “My Special One,” purred Judy once, flushed with maternal pride at seeing Andy alongside Jose Mourinho. To which Jamie replied, without skipping a beat: “Thank you mum.” It has long been his fate to labour in his sibling’s shadow, even if he was technically the first to win a Wimbledon title, with his mixed doubles triumph in 2007. But this was one occasion when he seemed perfectly content to play the page boy, letting Andy lap up the plaudits.

The tapestry of an evening match here with the Murray clan is well-established: Andy chuntering to no one in particular, Judy hardly daring to watch, Kim flicking her glossy coiffure for the cameras. Except this time, there were significant additions. Quite apart from Jamie, two of Andy’s three daughters, Sophia and Edie, had courtside perches to watch his last dance. For all his frightening intensity as a competitor, he is a sentimentalist at heart. He has proved it at this farewell to the Championships, with his two doubles appearances – one a fraternal affair, the other a sugar rush with Emma Raducanu – orchestrated to tug at the heartstrings.

This richly poignant brotherly affair did not unfold as Murray had hoped. Indeed, it was all over in just 1hr 28mins, barely the length of a set at his pomp in singles. He looked rickety at times, clutching the back from which he had just had a spinal cyst removed, not to mention the resurfaced hip. “Not too fast, Andy, I’ve got a babysitter booked,” shouted one wag in the crowd, as he and Jamie slid to a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 defeat to Australian duo Rinky Hijikata and John Peers. But in the end, the scoreline was secondary to the adoration that engulfed him in the post-match ceremony.

Murray is a rarity in that he has technically had two retirements. He has experienced the lavish video montage treatment once before, when his hip problems at the 2019 Australian Open appeared to preface the end, and here at the tournament that defines him he had the chance to bask in the eulogies once more. With Barker’s expert guidance, he relived his greatest moments on this court, not least when she made him cry after his agonising 2012 loss to Roger Federer. This time, he was not so lachrymose, noting the fact that, at 9pm, it was already long past his daughters’ bedtime.

Amid the highlights reel, Murray understood that he still needed to mention his wife. “This’ll be the hard part,” he said, grinning knowingly towards Kim. They had met, he reflected, when he was just 18, going out for dinner and his shyness overcoming to the extent that he could only ask for her email address. “She has been an amazing support, to me, to my family.” Briefly, it appeared as if he might choke, but he regathered himself to look ahead. “Unfortunately, in a couple of months, she’s going to have to see me every day. So, things might be rocky for a little while, but I hope we can stick it out. I’m looking forward to the rest of our lives.”

It is hardwired in Murray’s psyche that he abhors mawkishness, but this was a performance fully attuned to the occasion. And with a few final strides, off the grass and into the golden glow of the Centre Court lobby, he was gone.