Andy Murray lost on his Wimbledon farewell on Centre Court(Image: Francois Nel/Getty Images)

Andy Murray's Wimbledon farewell party crashed as brothers lose doubles match

Andy Murray and his brother Jamie were beaten 7-6 6-4 on Centre Court by Australian duo John Peers and Rinky Hijikata, much to the disappointment of his supporters

by · The Mirror

Andy Murray wanted one last shot at Wimbledon glory, but sport is cruel and you don't always get what you want.

Murray had worked tirelessly to get himself ready to play at the All England Club, practising relentlessly in the hope that he could play in the singles for one last time. That dream was robbed from him by the cyst close to his spine and, just 12 days on from back surgery, his hope of progressing in the doubles alongside his brother Jamie was extinguishing too.

The Centre Court crowd turned up hoping to see the two-time champion triumph in amid a celebratory atmosphere, but John Peers and Rinky Hijikata had other ideas. The Australian pairing didn't care for sentiment - they came to win and, much to the disappointment of the crowd, they did so in ruthlessly efficient fashion, winning the first-round match 7-6 6-4.

Rinky Hijikata and John Peers came to spoil the party( Image: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

In some ways the Andy Murray of old was present. The disgruntled moans to his family in the stands, the fist-pump after winners and a few glimpses of his talent. But in others it was evident that he is a 37-year-old with a metal hip less than two weeks on from an operation.

Andy tweaked his back reaching for a ball on the baseline in the third game, but after some gasps from the crowd, a grimace and a stretch, he continued. It took a while for things to get going, but there were some huge cheers from the crowd when the match delivered some spectacular points.

But, although Andy won all four of his points in the first-set tie-break, it was the Australian pairing who prevailed, with Hijikata coming up trumps. After trading breaks in the second set, they broke again and sealed the win.