There were shattering scenes at Wimbledon after Australian doubles duo John Peers and Rinky Hijikata unwittingly became villains and knocked tennis legend Andy Murray out of the tournament.
Murray, who was playing with his older brother Jamie, lost the first round match 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 and emotion-soaked celebrations and find tributes for the retiring 37-year-old followed.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Emotional scenes at Wimbledon as Andy Murray says farewell.
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Tears were flowing as Murray admitted his incredible tennis journey was over.
“It was really special (playing doubles with my brother). We never got the chance to do it before,” he said after the match.
“The way things worked out .. it was a race against time to try to get out here. It wasn’t easy today. But I’m glad we were able to get out here and do this one time together.”
Sadly, he said he was “ready to finish” playing because he “can’t play to the level” that he wants to play at.
“That’s something that I guess is a bit out of my control. If I knew my body was going to be able to do it, I would play — there’s nothing about the sport that I hate and I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do it any more for this reason’.
“I like the travelling. I love the competition, practising, trying to get better, all those things. Yeah, I know that it’s time now. I’m ready for that.”
Greats of the game such as Venus Williams, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, and Novak Djokovic featured in a tribute video for Murray, which he said was hard to watch.
“You know it’s coming to the end of something you’ve absolutely loved doing for such a long time,” he said.
“It’s also not easy. It was pretty emotional. Watching the video was nice but hard as well for me … because you know it’s coming to the end of something you’ve absolutely loved doing for such a long time.
“So that’s difficult.”
Greats of the game including John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Murray’s great rival Novak Djokovic and Australia’s most-recent men’s champion Lleyton Hewitt were on hand at courtside to salute him.
Sue Barker, the long-time master of ceremonies at Wimbledon, came out of retirement too.
“It’s really nice a lot of the players stayed (and watched the match). I’ve had very close relationships with the British guys but there were a lot of players on that court I have enormous respect for,” Murray said.
“Some of the greatest players in the history of the game. Some of them had matches today. It was really nice they stayed.”
Hijikata told the cheering crowd after Thursday’s triumph that it was a special moment for the Aussies as well.
“It is very special for us to come out here and play today. It is nice to get through but I think everyone here just wants to come and support Andy,” he said.
“It was all about Andy and the great champion he is. It was an absolute honour to step on the court with him before he finishes playing.”
Peers, a previous doubles partner of Jamie Murray, echoed the sentiments.
“It is an absolute honour to be out here with Andy. Our words don’t do it justice how good he is,” he said.
Murray may have the mixed doubles to come with former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, but this was the night the All England Club grasped the opportunity to mark the Scot’s ground-breaking 19 years there when he became the king of Wimbledon.
And as he winced and looked awkward in his movement, clearly still uncomfortable following the removal of a cyst from his spine last weekend — the surgery which forced him to abandon his planned singles swansong — it did feel as if this really ought to be his last match at Wimbledon.
If so, it was a near-perfect farewell — except for the result.
Hijikata had revealed to AAP beforehand how keen he and Peers were to spoil the party, and they proved true to his words by saving a set point in the first before going on to grasp the tiebreak.
But after an early break in the second set, the Murray boys — unbeaten together in Davis Cup ties — didn’t have the cohesion of their rivals.
There was hardly a dry eye in the house as Murray told Barker post-match: “The last few years have been hard for me.
“It is hard because I would love to keep playing, but I can’t. Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven’t been insignificant.
“I want to play forever, I love the sport and it’s given me so much.
“It’s taught me loads of lessons over the years I can use for the rest of my life. I don’t want to stop, so it is hard.”