“Maybe I’ll see you again, I’ll do everything possible to try,” he told spectators in a quavery voice.
For a nation steeped in tennis history but long starved of success, Britain’s Andy Murray is the gift that keeps giving.
From the moment the scrawny kid from the Scottish town of Dunblane won the junior title at the 2004 US Open, he was touted as the real McCoy.
He did not disappoint and 14 years later, with his battle-scarred right hip apparently proving beyond even Murray’s never-say-die attitude, only the hard-hearted could wish him anything other than goodwill as he prepares for life after tennis with his 32nd birthday looming.
Whatever happens in the final act of his career he belongs in the pantheon of British sporting greats.
Despite a career forged in the toughest of all tennis eras, Murray has 45 career titles, including three Grand Slams, two Olympic golds, a Davis Cup and $60 million in career earnings.
Yet it was perhaps a defeat that opened the door to greatness, and a nation’s affection.
The 2012 Wimbledon final, Murray’s first at the All England Club where he shouldered home hopes for more than a decade, saw him eclipsed by Roger Federer and then receive a standing ovation as the tears flowed during his runner-up speech.
Britain loves a plucky loser but Murray was to prove anything but.
He returned to the Wimbledon lawns weeks later and rode a wave of national euphoria to beat Federer to Olympic gold.
A few weeks after that he outlasted Serbia’s Novak Djokovic to win the US Open having lost his first four Grand Slam finals – a record he shared with coach Ivan Lendl.
Significant as that Flushing Meadows victory was – it banished the ghost of Fred Perry by ending a 76-year wait for a British Grand Slam champion – what followed a year later took Murray’s standing to an entirely different level.
He fought back from two sets down in the quarter-final to beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco and again found himself in trouble against Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz before winning in four.
Top seed Djokovic awaited in the final but Murray was simply too good, winning in straight sets to end a 77-year jinx for British men on the hallowed lawns.
While the scoreline was routine, the final heart-pounding game will forever live in British sporting folklore.
Murray’s obdurate playing style, relying on superhuman defensive skills mixed with flashes of genius shot-making, all fuelled by a ferocious will to win, began to take its toll.
He required back surgery at the end of 2013 and in 2014 he did not reach a Grand Slam final for the first time since 2009.
The best was yet to come though.
In 2016 Murray reached his fifth Australian Open final and first French Open final – losing to career rival Djokovic in both. He rebounded, however, to beat Canada’s Milos Raonic to win his second Wimbledon title.
A knighthood followed and a third BBC Sports Personality of the Year award but only he knows if that manic charge to the summit exacerbated the hip injury that will end his career.
In his five-setter yesterday, he proved once again he has lost none of his pugnaciousness. But will it encourage him to go for more glory? We might know in the coming days.
