No fairy-tale ending for Murray but tennis star glad to finish career on own terms

Andy Murray says he is glad he got to end his spectacular career on his own terms despite no fairy-tale ending in Paris.

The Scottish tennis star had cemented his place as one of the country’s greatest ever sporting heroes long before this summer’s Olympic Games when he hung up his racket for the final time.

He partnered with Dan Evans to take part in the doubles tournament in France but they were unable to secure a medal place.

However, Murray was happy with how the curtain came down in front of his friends, family and Team GB teammates on the biggest stage.

In a fitting swansong to a career defined by miraculous comebacks and a never-say-die attitude the pair saved seven match points in two rounds to battle through to the quarter-finals before their defiance eventually ran out against American third seeds Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

After the game Murray jokingly tweeted “I never liked tennis anyway” following a 20-year career that saw him win two Wimbledon titles, a US open, Davis Cup and two Olympic Gold medals as well as reaching eleven Grand Slam finals and having a spell ranked as number one in the world despite playing an era with the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Looking back on his career and how it finished he said: “It’s not a fairy tale ending, which would have been winning a medal but having a brilliant run has been very special.

“Being surrounded by all of my team-mates and having my friends and family here has been really nice.

“It’s obviously sad leaving the court for the last time but happy ultimately like I’m glad I got to finish my career on my own terms in front of a brilliant crowd.”