Andy Murray suffered a losing start in his farewell to Wimbledon on Thursday, weeping openly in front of his adoring fans before admitting: “I wish I could play forever.”

Murray, a two-time singles champion at Wimbledon, and his brother Jamie were defeated 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 by Rinky Hijikata and John peers of Australia in the first round of men’s doubles.

It was the first episode of a retirement three-parter — the 37-year-old Murray is scheduled to play mixed doubles with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon before he retires at the Paris Olympics.

After having a metal hip inserted in 2019, suffering ankle damage this year and undergoing surgery to remove a cyst from his spine which ruled him out of singles at Wimbledon, Murray has reluctantly accepted the writing is on the wall.

His career has yielded three grand slam titles, two Olympic gold medals, a Davis Cup and the world number-one ranking.

“look, it’s 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,” he said. 

Tears flowed when video tributes were paid to Murray by a number of stars including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

“You were never alone,” said eight-time Wimbledon champion and 20-time slam champion Federer, the man defeated on centre court when Murray claimed Olympic gold in 2012.

“While you carried your own dreams, you also carried theirs.”

Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion at the All England club and the holder of 22 majors, said: “we were proud to play against you.”

Seven-time Wimbledon champion and the winner of 23 women’s grand slams Serena Williams told Murray: “your golden days belonged to everybody.”