Murray, Great Britain’s most successful tennis player of the Open era, and a two-time Olympic champion, had hoped that his doughty double act with Dan Evans might delay his retirement by just a few more days
After the dramatics of the previous two rounds, when Murray, 37, and Evans, 34, had saved a plethora of match points to keep the show on the road – and the floodlights
The match ended 6-2, 6-4, with Evans at the end pushing his visibly emotional friend back on to the court to take the roars of approval on what Murray has said will be his final professional outing.
It was a welcome and joyful conclusion to the sixth day of the Games that had seen the International Olympic Committee accused by the author JK Rowling of allowing a man to beat a woman for entertainment.
After refusing to shake Khelif’s hand, Carini revealed in a post-fight interview in the North Paris Arena that she had pulled out after being hit harder than she had ever been hit before.
Khelif, 25, is one of two boxers permitted to fight at the Olympics despite being disqualified from the women’s world championships last year for failing testosterone and gender eligibility tests.