By Will Jennings at Roland-Garros

So finally, it’s come to an end.

Over 1,000 matches, 46 singles titles, three Grand Slam triumphs and two Olympic gold medals – as darkness descended on Roland-Garros last night, Andy Murray finally said au revoir to the tennis world.

For once, the king of escapology was unable to pull off one final, retirement-postponing victory, battling to the death as he has done for the last two decades but eventually falling to an Olympic quarter-final defeat alongside Dan Evans.

The Team GB duo were swatted aside in straight sets by American pair Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz as Murray, who simply refused to go away here all week, and his hopes of a fairytale farewell were eventually extinguished in Paris.

Sadly, Murray will not be saying goodbye in a blaze of Olympic glory and bowing out with a third medal on the greatest stage of all.

For all the fight, grit, steel and resilience shown by Murray, 37, and experienced partner-in-crime Evans, 34, across this most dramatic of campaigns, their younger, more dynamic opponents simply had too much firepower on the famous French clay.

But what a run it’s been.

In many ways, the last few days here at Roland-Garros have functioned as a microcosm of Murray’s career as a whole, a sustained period dining at tennis’ top table defined by all of those above adjectives we have associated him with since the very beginning 19 years ago.

No player has won more Grand Slam matches when trailing by two sets and as Murray embarked on this final – and increasingly elongated – frontier, he showed us exactly why with a pair of heart-thumping doubles triumphs.

First, there was that extraordinary Sunday night fightback in front of a gripped watching nation back home, where Murray and Evans astonishingly saved five match points to topple Japanese duo Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori.

Kickstarted by a fizzing Murray ace into the corner – how else? – the indefatigable duo inexplicably reeled off seven points on the spin to trigger wild scenes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Just 48 hours later they were at it again, saving two match points against Belgians Sander Gille and Joren Vliegen before recovering to clinch the deciding tie-break and further delay Murray’s departure.

But as they bid to propel themselves to within just one win of a guaranteed medal – the third of Murray’s career after soaring to London 2012 and Rio 2016 singles glory – third seeds Fritz and Paul were the pair who finally spoilt the party with a slick 6-2 6-4 triumph in front of a watching Billie Jean King.

Speaking after leaving the court for the final time, the former world No.1 and 11-time Grand Slam finalist said: “It felt good - I knew that moment was coming for last few months so I was ready for it.

“I feel good, I’m disappointed we didn’t play our best, and if we’d started like that would have made it really difficult them.

“It would have been amazing to win a medal and the perfect ending.

“I was emotional, but I am genuinely happy now and how it’s finished.”

Singles world No.13 Paul, who was crowned champion at Queen’s earlier this summer, had spoken ahead of the encounter joking about Murray’s retirement and his remarkable run of Harry Houdini-resembling exploits.

“Hopefully we can retire him, that would be pretty cool,” the 27-year-old said.

“But they’ve been saving match points left and right. We’ve got to take care of the first match point because if they get that one…”

Paul and Fritz, the world No.12, ruthlessly executed that promise as they outplayed, outpowered and outfoxed the tiring British duo to finally get the better of that quintessential Murray stubbornness.

We still got a stirring dose of that as Murray miraculously saved another match point but despite breaking back in the second set, the Americans scrambled over the line.

That finally drew the curtain on the most storied of tennis careers, a near two-decade period where the Scot captured the hearts of the nation with that emotional pair of long-awaited Wimbledon triumphs – the first British man to do so for 77 years since the great Fred Perry – in 2013 and 2016.

Murray leaves us with so many memories.

Dissolving into tears while delivering that famous ‘I’m going to try this, but it’s not going to be easy’ line in his on-court interview with Sue Barker after being denied by Roger Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final.

That maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open just two months later, edging past long-term nemesis Novak Djokovic in a five-set Flushing Meadows thriller to become the first British man to win a major since Perry in 1936.

And then the following summer, banishing those SW19 demons to lower the colours of Djokovic, a now record-holding 24-time Grand Slam champion who was born just seven days after him, to propel himself into the pantheon in front of an adoring Centre Court crowd.

A second Wimbledon title followed in 2016 while away from the Slams, Murray delivered Team GB a pair of precious gold medals on both home London soil and in Brazil four years later.

So in many respects it is fitting the Scot bows out while flying the British flag, perhaps the nation’s greatest ever sportsman who has done so much to blaze a trail for tennis in this country.

Murray, who was blighted by injuries to his hip throughout his career, added: “I’m happy I got to go out at the Olympics and finish on my terms as at times, that wasn’t a certainty.

“I feel lucky that I got that opportunity to pay here, and I have amazing memories.”

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