“I am looking forward to the end now,” stated Andy Murray after he played his last singles match at the Miami Open with the former world No 1 admitting the final few months of his career will be about “giving my best” before he can finally spend time with his family.
After two excellent wins over Matteo Berrettini and Tomas Etcheverry in the first two rounds of the ATP Masters 1000 event, Murray was looking to extend his stay when he took on Tomas Machac on Sunday.
However, the former world No 1’s farewell tour made its final stop in the third round of the tournament as he went down against the Czech despite leading 5-3 in the final set.
Murray, who needed treatment in the decider after he rolled his ankle at 5-5, gave his Miami fans a last goodbye as he eventually went down 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).
At the end of the match, he took a moment to wave goodbye to those who came to watch him for the final time.
Sir Andy Murray, everybody 👏@andy_murray #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/759UY5RulY
There were also emotional comments from the great man during his post-match press conference as the coastal metropolis had been like a home to him over the years.
“I wasn’t thinking about all the matches I played. Just more that that’s the last match that I am going play here which is sad because I love it here,” the three-time Grand Slam winner said. “I’ve spent so much of my tennis career here and I would have liked it to have gone on a little bit longer.
“This tournament in particularly for me is an important one so it was a bit more emotional leaving the court today than it might be at some of the other events.
“I am looking forward to the end now, give my best the next few months and get to be at home with my family.”
He added: “Miami has been a special place for me during my career. It’s been my tennis home really. I’ve done so much of my work and training and preparation here. I love the city.”
After starting the year with four consecutive defeats, Murray won one match at each of his next three tournaments to start the Miami Open with a 3-7 record.
And he managed to win back-to-back matches for the first time since the Canadian Open last August, leaving him proud.
“It’s been pretty positive, there were some good signs in my game, definitely an improvement on the last few tournaments, not perfect but considering everything to be winning matches against the players I did and pushing Thomas like I did today, I’m proud of myself because it’s extremely difficult to do what I’m doing with the issue that I have,” he said.
“To still be able to compete with these guys is a credit to myself and the work that I’ve done and the effort that I’ve put into this to keep myself in this position.”
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