History-maker: Andy Murray celebrates winning the 2013 Wimbledon title / © AFP/File
Andy Murray escaped the horrors of a school shooting massacre when he was eight years old to become one of the world's standout tennis champions in a modern era dominated by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Murray slipped into retirement on Thursday aged 37 when he was defeated in the men's doubles at the Olympics in Paris.
It ended a career which saw him climb to number one in the world, clinch three Grand Slam titles, two Olympic singles golds and amass a personal fortune of $65 million from his on-court career alone.
He accumulated 46 titles but his defining moment arrived in July 2013 when he became the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon.
A straight-sets victory on Centre Court over childhood rival Djokovic finally laid to rest the ghost of Fred Perry, the last British man to triumph at the All England Club back in 1936.
"Winning Wimbledon is the pinnacle of tennis," said Murray as his mother Judy and girlfriend, and soon to be wife, Kim wept courtside.
It had been a tense, knife-edge afternoon, none more so than in the deciding game as Murray saw three championship points come and go.
However, when Djokovic meekly dumped a return into the net, the celebrations began and the bitter taste of defeat to Federer in the 2012 final was forgotten.
"I was happy for Andy because he deserved it. He was working so hard to get his hands on the Wimbledon title," said Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion.
Murray, who reached 11 Grand Slam finals, would go on to claim a second Wimbledon title in 2016 although an eventual, lengthy battle with a hip injury meant he was never to get past the last-eight in recent years.
An ankle injury set him back in 2024 before an operation to remove a cyst on his back ruled him out of playing singles for the last time at Wimbledon.
- School massacre -
The straight-talking Murray was born in Glasgow in 1987 and raised in nearby Dunblane.
The tightly knit town made global headlines in March 1996.
A gunman ran amok in the primary school where Murray and his older brother Jamie were pupils.
Sixteen of Murray's schoolmates as well as a teacher died in the bloodshed.
Thomas Hamilton, who was well known to the Murray family, then turned the gun on himself.
"I am sure for all the kids there it would be difficult for different reasons," Murray told a documentary in 2019.
Fresh-faced: Andy Murray with his maiden trophy at San Jose in 2006 / © Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP/File
"The fact we knew the guy, we went to his kids' club, he had been in our car, we had driven and dropped him off at train stations and things."
- Barcelona move -
Murray first picked up a tennis racquet aged three.
At 15 he moved to Barcelona to train rather than enter the traditionally cash-rich but often stifling environment of the established British coaching system.
The first of his 46 titles came in San Jose in 2006.
A year earlier a wiry Murray had made his Grand Slam debut as an 18-year-old at Wimbledon.
He made the third round, beaten in five sets by former runner-up David Nalbandian.
In 2008, Murray made his first Slam final at the US Open, sweeping aside Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro before seeing off top-seeded Nadal in the semi-finals. It took Federer to stop him in the final.
Murray was to lose three more major finals before securing a maiden Slam triumph at the 2012 US Open, defeating Djokovic in five sets.
Home: Andy Murray meets with fans in Dunblane in September, 2012, following his victory in the US Open / © AFP
He was Britain's first men's champion at the majors in 76 years.
Earlier that summer Murray had won Olympic gold in London. He defended the title in Rio four years later.
He also featured in another history-making moment in 2015, leading Britain to a first Davis Cup triumph in 79 years.
In 2016 he became world number one and was knighted three years later.
Murray was a widely respected ambassador for the sport and an innovator, taking the relatively unusual step of hiring a woman coach.
Former two-time major winner Amelie Mauresmo worked with Murray for two years.
"It's one of my regrets that I didn't win a Grand Slam when I was working with her -- for a lot of people that was considered a failure," said Murray, a vocal supporter of the women's game.
- 'Warrior' -
In 2022 Murray received plaudits for donating all of his season's prize money -- around $630,000 -- to humanitarian relief in war-torn Ukraine.
His battle back from the brink of retirement and hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, and return to the top 50, stunned observers.
However a first-round loss at January's Australian Open forced him to admit that the clock was ticking.
"An incredible competitor on the court," said Djokovic on Thursday.
"One of the greatest warriors tennis has seen. His fighting spirit is definitely something that I'm sure is going to inspire many generations to come."
