Murray celebrates, Wimbledon farewell begins with defeat

Andy Murray endured an emotional farewell after his final Wimbledon appearance began with a straight-set defeat alongside his older brother Jamie in the men's doubles.

The two-time singles champion will play at the All England Club for the last time before retiring later this year.

When the Murray brothers entered Centre Court – where no first-round men's doubles match had been played since 1995 – they received a standing ovation.

Another clash followed shortly after they lost 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 to Australian pair John Peers and Rinky Hijikata on Centre Court.

After the match, a video montage of Andy Murray's career was shown on the big screen, moving the former world number one to tears as thousands of fans expressed their appreciation with a long standing ovation.

Murray's parents Judy and Willie, his wife Kim and two of their daughters also watched.

He thanked his family, his long-time teammates and the fans for their years of support.

Grand Slam winners Novak Djokovic, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe and Iga Swiatek applauded from the sidelines alongside British players Dan Evans, Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie.

Murray is expected to appear again later this week after signing up for the mixed doubles alongside fellow British Grand Slam winner Emma Raducanu.

“It was obviously very special to play with Jamie, we haven’t had the chance to do so before,” said Murray.

“It was a race against time to get here and it wasn't easy physically, but I'm glad we were able to do it together for once.”

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