Simon pays tribute to Murray: "He was desperate to win".

The tributes have been pouring in ever since Andy Murray officially announced his retirement at the end of the Olympic event.

This time it was Gilles Simon who praised the former world number 1.

In comments relayed by L'Equipe, he declared: "He's a mutt! He was ready to die on the court. He's an ultra-competitor, perhaps even more so than Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

He was prepared to do anything to win, no matter how good or bad it was. And playing better than him was no guarantee of victory.

He could quickly adapt his game to counter you. I always say you had to beat him three times."