PARIS -- Andy Murray has retired from tennis after he and his playing partner, Dan Evans, succumbed to a 6-2, 6-4 straight-sets defeat in the Olympic men's doubles quarterfinals on Thursday.
Murray and Evans had miraculously found ways to win their opening two matches via a total of seven match points saved, but they were no match for Team USA's Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul on the red clay of Roland Garros' Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
The British pair were beaten handily in the first set, managing to win just two games. Although they spirited a brief fightback from 5-2 down in the second set, it only delayed the inevitable as the American pair ran out comfortable winners.
It brings an end to Murray's 19-year career that has seen him win three Grand Slam titles -- the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016. He has also twice been crowned Olympic men's singles champion, at London 2012 and Rio 2016, as well as a mixed doubles silver alongside Laura Robson.
"I'm proud of my career," Murray told reporters afterward. "I worked really, really hard to achieve the results I did at a really difficult time to win the major titles. I'm proud. I gave it a good go. How my body has finished up shows I've put it through a lot. So I'm looking forward to a rest now."
Murray had been battling a culmination of injuries all season, notably an ankle ligament rupture that ruled him out of the French Open as well as a spinal cyst that meant his singles career ended at the Queen's Club Championships, rather than at Wimbledon or the Olympics.
He did play Wimbledon eventually, resulting in a first-round men's doubles defeat alongside his brother, Jamie, before Emma Raducanu pulled out as his partner in the mixed doubles competition.
But his final event in tennis came in Paris at the Olympics, which he had described as the most memorable tournament of his career.
"A few months ago I wasn't looking forward to it. Generally when you retire it's a celebration but I love playing tennis so I wasn't looking forward to that moment," Murray added.
"But then I had the surgery at Queens and at that point I was struggling to walk, it really was an emergency surgery. So I've been looking forward to the end since then because physically it's been tough because I'm not able to move around the court and do what I want to do physically and therefore can't compete at the level that I want to.
"The last year or 18 months I was worried about what I would do after but now I'm just looking forward to the end."
Murray and Evans had been dreaming of a winning goodbye for 37-year-old Scot. They struggled in their opening match against Japan's Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel with a lacklustre first set before winning the second via a tiebreak.
When the contest went to a match tiebreak, Murray and Evans looked to be out with the Japanese pair at one point enjoying a 9-4 lead. However, they improbably saved all five match points en route to a memorable victory.
They performed a similar feat in the next match -- against Belgium's Sander Gillé and Joran Vliegen -- this time putting in a much-improved showing but still needing a match tiebreak to settle the contest. They did so by saving two more match points.
"We're really close to doing something pretty special," Evans said after the match.
However, Fritz and Paul gave them no such opportunity. The American duo was assured in their play, picking apart their British opponents.
"Dan's been brilliant the whole week," Murray said. "We haven't had lots of fun on the court as some of the matches have been stressful at times. But we've enjoyed the wins and practiced well and gave it our best effort so I'm happy with how it finished."