PARIS: Andy Murray’s trophy-filled career came to an end at the Paris Olympics on Thursday as another chapter closed on tennis’s golden generation.
The former world number one and three-time Grand Slam title winner slipped into retirement when he and Dan Evans were defeated in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.
American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul delivered the knockout blow with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on a packed Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The 37-year-old Murray had already announced that the Olympics would be his last event.
One of the ‘Big Four’ in the sport, Murray joins 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in retirement after the Swiss great quit in 2022.
Rafael Nadal, the winner of 22 majors but battling more injuries at the age of 38, exited the Paris Olympics on Wednesday and suggested that he had played his last match at Roland Garros where he won 14 of his Slams.
Nadal also effectively ruled himself out of the US Open, sparking more speculation that the great Spaniard is also finished in the sport.
That would leave just 37-year-old Novak Djokovic, the winner of a record 24 Grand Slams, still active among the sport’s eminent talents who have carved up 69 majors between them.
Murray famously ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon when he triumphed in 2013, defeating career-long rival Djokovic in the final.
He added a second title in 2016, taking his career majors total to three after breaking his duck at the 2012 US Open.
Murray won gold at the 2012 Olympics on an emotional day at the All England Club when he defeated Federer just weeks after he had lost the Wimbledon final to the Swiss on the same Center Court.
Four years later, he defeated Juan Martin del Potro to become the first player, male or female, to win two Olympic singles golds.
Murray also led Britain to the Davis Cup title in 2015, the country’s first in 79 years.
He has won 46 titles in all and banked around $65 million in prize money.
However, he has been ravaged by injuries in recent years, slumping to 117th in the world.
The Scot has played with a metal hip since 2019 and suffered ankle damage earlier this year before undergoing surgery to remove a spinal cyst, which ruled him out of singles at Wimbledon.
Instead, he played doubles with brother Jamie and was defeated in the first round before an emotional tribute arranged by tournament chiefs.
“It’s hard because I would love to keep playing but I can’t,” admitted Murray at the All England Club.
“Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven’t been insignificant.”
Men’s tennis has already opened up a new frontier.
Jannik Sinner, the 22-year-old Italian, succeeded Djokovic as Australian Open champion in January and eventually took his world number one ranking.
Carlos Alcaraz, 21, won the French Open and successfully defended his Wimbledon title, sweeping Djokovic off court in a one-sided final in July.
Murray’s career ends in Olympic Games defeat
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Murray’s career ends in Olympic Games defeat
- The former world number one and three-time Grand Slam title winner slipped into retirement when he and Dan Evans were defeated in the men’s doubles quarter-finals
- The 37-year-old Murray had already announced that the Olympics would be his last event
Sabalenka powers past Osaka into Indian Wells quarter-finals
- Sabalenka wrapped up the first set with two breaks of serve before Osaka began to find her rhythm
INDIAN WELLS, United States: World number one Aryna Sabalenka powered into the Indian Wells quarter-finals on Tuesday, beating former champion Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in a battle of Grand Slam winners.
It was another straightforward, straight-sets victory for Sabalenka, who fired 31 winners with eight aces.
“Overall I’m happy that I put so much pressure on her, that I brought variety today on the court,” said Sabalenka, who mixed her booming groundstrokes with effective forays to the net.
“I think she was a little confused in the key moments, and I’m happy to see that,” Sabalenka said. “I’m happy that my serve worked well, on the return I played really great tennis.”
Sabalenka wrapped up the first set with two breaks of serve before Osaka began to find her rhythm.
But the Japanese star was unable to crack the serve of Sabalenka, who saved both break points she faced in the second set and grabbed a break for 4-3 with a pair of forehand winners.
It was just the second meeting between the two, both four-time Grand Slam champions.
Osaka won the first back in 2018 on the way to her first major title at the US Open.
“That’s actually crazy,” Sabalenka said of the fact they haven’t met more often. But she predicted there were more clashes in their future as Osaka, now ranked 16th, regains her momentum on the WTA Tour after taking off all of 2023 and having daughter, Shai, in July of that year.
Sabalenka, runner-up at Indian Wells in 2023 and 2025, will continue her pursuit of a first title in the prestigious ATP and WTA Masters 1000 event against either sixth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova or 10th-seeded Canadian teen Victoria Mboko.
Australian qualifier Talia Gibson’s dream run in the California desert continued with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 victory over seventh-ranked Italian Jasmine Paolini.
The 21-year-old’s first victory over a top-10 player propelled her into her first WTA quarter-final, where she’ll face either Czech Linda Noskova or Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
Gibson, ranked 112th, used a late break to pocket the first set, closing it out with her 18th winner of the opening frame.
Paolini sped to a 3-0 lead in the second as Gibson’s errors mounted and it looked as if the experienced Italian, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, had seized control.
But Gibson unleashed a barrage of winners in the third, including a stinging forehand service return on match point.
“Honestly, just completely speechless,” said Gibson, who beat top-20 players Ekaterina Alexandrova and Clara Tauson on the way to the fourth round.
