Murray's Wimbledon farewell: The man 'who left no stone unturned'
pIt was a moment nobody in the tennis world will soon forget. Everything at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a came to a standstill Thursday evening when a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/a was honoured on Centre Court following his menrsquo;s doubles loss alongside brother a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jamie-murray/mc81/overview'Jamie Murray/a./p
pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/john-mcenroe/m047/overview'John McEnroe/a, Martina Navratilova, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lleyton-hewitt/h432/overview'Lleyton Hewitt/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tim-henman/h336/overview'Tim Henman/a were among the stars who joined the Scot on court to pay homage to the two-time a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a champion. But many more players were glued to television screens around the grounds to hear Murrayrsquo;s typically witty, emotional and heartfelt remarks./p
pOne of those players was defending menrsquo;s doubles champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/neal-skupski/sl22/overview'Neal Skupski/a. The Briton finished his college career at Louisiana State University in 2012, the year Murray won the gold medal at the London Olympics and then claimed major glory at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a./p
pAt the time, Skupski looked up to Murray and followed his rise from a young talent to a national icon. Now they have become friends and play fantasy football with one another. /p
pldquo;It was very emotional. Andy's done so much for the sport, not just in Britain, but all around the world and he's a true champion. He works so hard just to kind of get back onto the court. So many times, his body breaks down, but he'll have surgery. He had surgery 10 days ago on his back and he's already back playing on Centre Court,rdquo; Skupksi told ATPTour.com. ldquo;That just shows the person that he is. But people don't see the other side of Andy, off the court. He's an unbelievable person. He's very caring, he likes to joke around, he's fun. He is an amazing person.rdquo;/p
blockquote class="twitter-tweet"
p lang="en" dir="ltr"Incredible achievements, incredible person ❤️br /
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What a beautiful celebration of Andy's journey last night ????a href="https://twitter.com/a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"@Wimbledon/a | a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a?src=hashamp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"#Wimbledon/a a href="https://t.co/4z4cGKujTw"pic.twitter.com/4z4cGKujTw/a/p
mdash; ATP Tour (@atptour) a href="https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1809221700929638718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"July 5, 2024/a/blockquote
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pSkupski, who has climbed to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings, said that it is tough to see Murrayrsquo;s career coming to a close, although Thursdayrsquo;s loss was not his final match. /p
pldquo;But when the time comes, it will be on his terms. It's when he wants to stop. It's just unfortunate that he hasn't been able to play singles here at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a. That would have been probably the way he had wanted to go out. But he got on court, Centre Court with his brother,rdquo; Skupski said. ldquo;It was quite emotional watching on the TV. When I was growing up, I was in college, I would see him kind of develop as a young kid into a true champion. He obviously struggled in the early days with fitness issues. But he left no stone unturned on that note. He got a great team around him and built him into a Grand Slam champion, also a two-time gold medalist.rdquo;/p
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pWhen Murray was at the peak of his powers, Skupski did not know him too well. But as the 34-year-old worked his way to the ATP Masters 1000 events and the majors, he got to know the Scot better./p
pldquo;He was one of my idols growing up. When I was developing in college, I was following his path to success, and then his stardom. He was walking around and you were like, 'Hi, Andy'. And then when he said hi back it was like, 'Wow, I just spoke to Andy',rdquo; Skupski said. ldquo;But then in recent years, I got to know him a lot more, probably in the past six, seven years. He's just like everybody else, he's just normal. He's a great guy. He gives time to anybody.rdquo;/p
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pThe doubles standout then smiled as he thought about the type of person Murray is off the court. Skupski explained how much Andy ldquo;loves the banterrdquo;./p
pldquo;Unfortunately he's very good at fantasy football. He tends to beat me, beat everybody at it because, like anything mdash; not just in tennis, but in life mdash; he wants to win. He's a true champion,rdquo; Skupski said. ldquo;The amount of research he does for fantasy football is incredible. He won't admit that. But that is the reason why he's good at fantasy and also in life, because he leaves no stone unturned.rdquo;/p
pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2024/07/05/11/18/murray-petchey.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mark-petchey/p222/overview'Mark Petchey/a" /br /
emsupPhoto Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Imagesbr /
/sup/ema href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mark-petchey/p222/overview'Mark Petchey/a, the former No. 80 in the PIF ATP Rankings, coached Murray early in his professional career and has been a big supporter and friend of the Scotrsquo;s ever since. Petchey watched Murrayrsquo;s emotional moment from the membersrsquo; section Thursday evening./p
pldquo;The Scot who soared,rdquo; Petchey said. ldquo;Andy was as mesmerising as he was tough. It was an irresistible and unique combination. He was different, determined and distinct. He was the best filler of the dead air in tennis there has ever been. /p
pldquo;You couldnrsquo;t take your eyes off him whether he was hitting a ball or wasnrsquo;t. He wasnrsquo;t just the lighthouse of British tennis, he was the era. He never changed. The most authentic of champions. The void he leaves will be vast but the memory of him timeless. He will be imitated but never duplicated. Thank you, Andy.rdquo;/p
pMurray is scheduled to play mixed doubles at The Championships with fellow major champion Emma Raducanu./p
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