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A standing ovation greeted Andy Murray and his doubles partner, older brother Jamie, when they walked out onto the Centre Court grass, for the first stop on the two-time Wimbledon singles champion’s farewell to the tournament that has meant so much to him.

It was the first men’s doubles opening-round match to be played on the main show court since 1995 but it was not the start of fairytale, rather the end of one, as the Murrays lost 7-6 (6), 6-4 to Aussie pair Rinky Hijikata and John Peers.

Murray, 37, has said he will head into retirement after playing at the All England Club, where he is also entered in mixed doubles with 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu, and the Paris Olympics, which begin later this month.

Murray occasionally fidgeted with his back and looked a tad uncomfortable, only natural for someone who had surgery to remove a cyst from his spine less than two weeks ago, forcing him to withdraw from singles.

This was the first time the two Murray siblings had played together at the All England Club. Their mother, Judy, who taught both boys tennis, was in a guest box, sitting with Andy’s wife, Kim, and two of their four children.

Asked about his feelings sharing the court with his brother, Andy told the BBC:

“Yeah it was obviously really special. We never got the chance to do it before. There was a chance this year.

“Jamie’s usual partner was playing with Neal Skupski so he asked me. Obviously it was a bit of a race against time to try and get out here and physically it wasn’t easy today but I’m glad we were able to get out here and do this one time together.”