Let's pay tribute to the great Andy Murray and his impact on tennis

It finally happened. Andy Murray has retired from professional tennis following his final appearance recently in the Paris Olympic Games. The 37-year-old will be remembered for a career full of historic achievements, which he accomplished against some of the best players in the history of tennis. 

In November 2016 Murray became the first British player to reach World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings aged 29 finishing the year on a 24-match winning streak, a stretch during which he won five consecutive titles. The Scot held top spot for a total of 41 weeks in his career, placing him 14th among the 29 players who have reached World No. 1.

Photo credit: Brendan Dennis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Scot became the first player to win two Olympic singles gold medals (2012 and 2016), defeating Roger Federer in the London final and Juan Martin del Potro in the Rio de Janeiro championship match. He earned 46 tour-level titles, including three major crowns (2012 US Open, 2013 Wimbledon, 2016 Wimbledon), and led Great Britain to Davis Cup glory in 2015.

Murray shone at ATP Masters 1000 events, capturing 14 titles at the elite level, fifth most in the history of the series (since 1990) behind only Djokovic (40), Rafael Nadal (36), Federer (28) and Andre Agassi (17). He triumphed at seven of the nine Masters 1000s events.

“I’m happy about it [ending my career at the Olympics]. Look, a few months ago I didn’t know, I wasn’t happy about potentially stopping, I was quite unsure about it,” Murray said on the eve of the Olympics. “But now that the time is here, now I’ve made that decision definitively, I feel good about it.”

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi paid respect as well: "Congratulations to Andy on an extraordinary career. Our sport has been incredibly fortunate to watch you play... [and witness] the values of hard work, sportsmanship, and never giving up."

Video Tribute

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Source: ATP Tour; YouTube: ATP Tour. Top Photo: Carine06 from UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons