Andy Murray says ‘I hate losing’ as Olympics journey ends on a sad note

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If this is the last we see of Andy Murray at an Olympics, then it was a sad end.

His body language and that of playing partner Joe Salisbury said it all after a 4-6, 7-6, 10-7 defeat to Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig, heads bowed and not even a glimmer of any positivity etched on either of their faces.

The Games have provided some of Murray's greatest moments — the gold at London 2012 on the Wimbledon surface where he would go on to win two of his three Grand Slams and the successful Olympic defence in Rio.

His body has faltered in recent years but the hope was that a third Olympic gold was not beyond the realms of possibility. A thigh strain had forced him to forego his single ambitions here, but it was not deemed sufficiently serious to derail his doubles ambitions.

And the way that he and Salisbury had gelled from their opening match suggested that was an infinitely achievable prospect.

But such are the fine margins of men's doubles, they went from dominating their quarter-final and a set and a break up before their Croatian opposition fought back, gained momentum and held the upper hand for the remainder of the match.

The only break of that first set came in the opening game, and the set was rounded off by an exquisite volley by Salisbury, who has cemented his status as one of the world's best double players at the Games with his stunning reaction times.

They broke Cilic in the second set to go 3-2 up but were broken back, which seemed to zap them of the energy and confidence they had shown up to that point.

Murray said: "It's hard. I hate losing. I wanted to try to win a medal with Joe. It's difficult to take, it's disappointing. You have regrets, think about points, things you should have done differently.

"I've loved every minute of playing in the Olympics. I wished that today could have gone differently. I just wish we could have done better."

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He spoke of his love of the Olympics past and present but, as for the future, with Paris being just three years away, he said he simply did not know. With the vagaries of his body over the past few years, it's hard to look beyond the next three weeks.

For Murray, that is the US Open and, despite the thigh strain, he said he was confident of lining up for the final Grand Slam of the year, with the inevitable caveat of: "I'll have to wait and see."

For Salisbury, it was equally tough. He'd had the pick of British players to team up with and, without hesitation, opted for Murray at the first opportunity, calling it "a dream come true" to be partnered with the former world No1.

"It's always tough when you lose matches, but especially here," he said. "A chance of getting to the semi-finals and a chance of winning a medal. And the situation that we were in — a set and a break up we were playing so well — is very tough."

That left tennis hopes resting on the shoulders of Liam Broady in the men's singles, who had exceeded expectation to make it into the third round.

Broady had done so well to win two matches, which included stunning Hubert Hurkacz, himself a man for the big shock having knocked Roger Federer out of Wimbledon barely a few weeks previously.

The Briton had chances against France's Jeremy Chardy, but faded in another lengthy match in hot conditions for a 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 defeat.

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