Andy Murray is Scotland's greatest sportsperson and he will be missed painfully by so many

Life after Andy Murray has just become real, following his straight-sets defeat in the men's doubles at the Olympics. It is over, the professional career of Scotland's greatest sportsperson.

Some will argue with that label and that's fine. Sport is all about opinions, after all. But I would be interested to see who would be held up against Murray. He won 1001 ATP Tour matches, landed three Grand Slam titles, two of which came under the most enormous pressure at Wimbledon. In total, he landed 46 trophies, 14 of which came at Masters level. He was the world's best tennis player for 41 weeks and has three Olympic medals - two of which are gold - on his mantelpiece. What a career. What a man.

It was therefore fitting that the curtain fell at the Olympics. Some would counter that with a Wimbledon swansong but Murray has always been a team player. All of the above achievements are extraordinary but leading Great Britain to the Davis Cup title in 2015 will go down as one of his finest moments too. Murray loved representing his nation, be it in Scotland or GB colours.

The tears flowed at 8.45pm British time as Murray saluted the crowd on Suzanne Lenglen court at Roland Garros. Murray's retirement has been in the post for a long time, but he has prolonged his goodbye longer than many thought. Saving seven match points in his first two matches this week was an epitome of the fighter he truly is. He saved another one in this last match, staring retirement in the face before ultimately Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz prevailed. This was one step too far for Murray and Evans, who had already enthralled their fans during their time in Paris.

An emotional Andy Murray waves goodbye to the Paris crowd | AP

Injury robbed Murray of so much more. His degenerative hip required surgery just as he was at the very peak of his powers. His comeback from a resurfacing operation was quite remarkable. I remember being awestruck when he defeated Stan Wawrinka in 2019 to win the title in Antwerp. That was a phenomenal achievement given where he had come from. It was a shame that two years ago, when playing excellent tennis, he lost finals in Brisbane and Stuttgart, and indeed he was unable to take advantage of a kind Wimbledon path opening when losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round in 2023, his final singles campaign at SW19. Driven by one last hurrah, it eluded him.

A sign of a champion is their insatiable desire to win. Against injury, against three of the greatest players the men's game has ever seen in Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, he fought to the end. Never give up. It should have been tattooed across his torso.

My favourite Murray moment is not Wimbledon in 2013, nor his gold medals. It came last year, when he played Thanasi Kokkinakis in a late-night, six-hour epic at the Australian Open. Trailing two sets to love and 2-0 down in the third set, there is a point where Murray extraordinarily retrieves three smashes, chasing down the ball like his life depended on it. He won the point, put his ear to the crowd and then went on to win. No other player had that indefatigable nature.

Then there was his campaigning for equality in the women's game, his dry wit, his perceptive comments on the sport. Some did not take to Murray at the beginning but I suspect they'll love him now.

We will miss Murray so very much. What a privilege it has been to witness the journey of this small country's very, very best.