The magnificent video tribute to Murray with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Venus Williams at Wimbledon
An emotional moment on the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, where Andy Murray, Sir Andy Murray, surely played for the last time on Thursday evening. Teaming up with his brother Jamie Murray in doubles, the Scot lost to Australians Rinky Hijikata and John Peers (7-6, 6-4).
But there was more to the evening than that: a hero's farewell to his people. Murray was the one who brought the wait to an end in 2013. When he became the first British player since Fred Perry in 1936, 77 years earlier, to finally win Wimbledon.
He even repeated the feat three years later, in 2016, winning his third and final Grand Slam title. In addition to these two titles, he also won the 2012 Olympic Games on the grass of the All England Club.
Emotions ran high when, after the match, a film retracing Murray's career was shown on the giant screens (see video below). The film was accompanied by commentary from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams.
More than 30 years compacted into 3 minutes and 55 seconds, a condensed version of the passage of time that seems to have flown by so quickly when we agree to look back for a few moments to contemplate it. An emotion that will be hard to escape for those lucky enough to have witnessed the prowess of the Big 4 and its golden era.