Andy Murray's glittering career has officially come to an end, as the 37-year-old bowed out of the Paris 2024 Olympic's men's doubles tournament alongside Dan Evans with an engrossing quarter-final defeat to the USA's Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
The three-time Grand Slam winner revealed that the Paris Games would be his final competition as a professional, and having withdrawn from the singles - where he won gold in 2012 and 2016 - the doubles competition represented his last dance.
In typical Murray fashion, the 37-year-old never waved the white flag on the Parisian clay, as he and Evans saved an incredible five match points in their opening match against Japan's Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori.
The lion-hearted Britons saved another two match points in their second-round showdown with Belgium's Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, and their never-say-die spirit came to the fore once again on Thursday, where the quality of their opposition kicked up a notch.
Fritz and Paul eventually made it through to the semi-finals with a 6-2 6-4 success, but the scoreline certainly did not reflect the twists and turns of an epic one-hour and 16-minute battle, where the Britons threatened one of their astounding comebacks yet again.
Evans and Murray were blown away by the American duo in the first set, as Fritz and Paul converted two of two break points for a 4-0 lead and also clinically took the opener with their first set point.
The British duo had previous when it came to coming back from a 2-6 first-set deficit, having done exactly that against Daniel and Nishikori, but the writing appeared to be on the wall when the Americans roared into a 4-1 lead with another double break.
An emotional farewell from Andy Murray 🥹
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2024
Thank you, Andy ❤
#Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/MO01RB7iyh
Murray goes down swinging before emotional farewell
Evans and Murray appeared to have just delayed the inevitable with a break back for 2-4, as they lost serve to love to give Paul and Fritz - who had beaming smiles throughout the second set - the chance to serve out the match.
However, the Americans' smiles were wiped off their faces when Evans and Murray saved another match point, and after wasting four chances for a scarcely believable break back, the Britons made it fifth time lucky to keep Murray kicking that little bit longer.
The British pair would force Fritz and Paul to try to serve out the match again, but there would be no second last-gasp reprieve for Murray and Evans, as the Americans advanced to the final four at the expense of Murray's career.
After the tiniest thread of Murray hope finally broke, the 37-year-old embraced his partner Evans and could not stem the waterworks as he said farewell to the French crowd, bringing the curtain down on his unforgettable tennis journey.
In addition to his inspirational off-the-court work - in particular his strong advocacy of feminism and equality - Murray won three major titles, taking the 2012 US Open Crown before Wimbledon triumphs in 2013 and 2016.
The 37-year-old also became the ATP Finals champion and year-end number one in the latter season, as well as clinching 14 Masters crowns and 46 ATP Tour singles titles in total.
However, the last seven years of Murray's career were blighted by perpetual injury concerns, as he won just one title post-2017 and had to withdraw from this year's Wimbledon singles event with a back problem.
The three-time major winner still competed in the doubles with brother Jamie Murray, going out in the first round before enjoying a tear-inducing tribute on Centre Court.
