Andy Murray was left devastated after an agonising defeat in the third round of the men's doubles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He and partner Joe Salisbury lost a tight match to Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig in three sets: 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-10.
After a promising start to the tournament in which they won their opening two matches in straight sets, Dodig and 2014 US Open champion Cilic was without doubt their toughest test.
After winning the first set 6-4, the Brits lost the second set 7-2 on a tiebreak, before succumbing in a ten-point champions tiebreak after Salisbury sent a volley long.
After the match a distraught Murray took to social media and gave his assessment on what could possibly be his final Olympic Games.
He tweeted: "I feel crushed after todays loss, sport can be brutal. Thanks so much @joesalisbury92 for the opportunity to play.
"You were brilliant. I wish it could have gone a little better but s**t happens.
"And if this is the end of my @olympics journey i want to say a huge thanks to @TeamGB and all the tennis support team for everything they have done to help me perform at my best over the years.
"It’s been an absolute privilege to represent you and my country at 4 Olympics and it’s given me some of the best memories of my life."
He added: "And if this is the end of my @olympics journey i want to say a huge thanks to @TeamGB and all the tennis support team for everything they have done to help me perform at my best over the years.
"It’s been an absolute privilege to represent you and my country at 4 Olympics and it’s given me some of the best memories of my life.”
Murray has been a stellar performer for Team GB, securing his first Olympic gold in the singles at London 2012, defeating Roger Federer in the final, arguably one of Muzza’s best performances of his career.
He followed it up by successfully defending his gold medal in Rio 2016 after outlasting Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in an enthralling four-set encounter.
As a result he became the only male player to win multiple gold medals in the men's singles.
Murray was set to compete for a third Olympic gold medal in a row, but sadly pulled out after a niggling quad injury forced him to choose between the singles or the doubles.
Salisbury, ranked number nine in the doubles, was playing at his first Olympics and Murray wished things had gone differently for them in Tokyo.
“This was another chance with Joe to win a medal. We were so close, that’s what is so disappointing,” he said.
“I’d like to have done stuff in the match to try to help out more. It’s hard. I hate losing. I wanted to try to win a medal with Joe.
“It’s difficult to take. You have regrets, think about points, things you should have done differently.”
The next time fans can expect to see the former world number one is the North American hardcourt swing, but we will have to wait and see whether he will feature at next month’s US Open, the final grand slam of the year.
