It ended not with a bang, not even with a whimper but with the plain, cold, official statement from the Referee’s office: Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu had withdrawn from the mixed doubles due to Raducanu having a right wrist injury.

That was it. Murray’s Wimbledon career was over. No fanfare, no tears. He simply went home.

The injury does not sound particularly severe – Raducanu woke up with some stiffness in the wrist – but she was not taking any chances.

Last year she had surgery on both wrists and one ankle and it has been a long and slow journey back to her current level (which, judging by her performance on Friday evening, was somewhere near her best).

It was hardly a surprise that she would not risk any further damage before her fourth round meeting with Lulu Sun on Sunday.

For Murray, it was not the way he had planned it. Then again, most of this year has not gone the way he had planned. Every time he came close to playing well another injury would stop him in his tracks.

His grand farewell to Wimbledon was supposed to have been in singles but back surgery put paid to that.

His doubles campaign with his brother lasted for two sets in the first round – although coming only 10 days after that operation to remove a cyst near his spinal cord, it was a miracle he was able to play at all.

But he wanted to go out competing. He had fought as hard as he could with Jamie against Rinky Hijikata and John Peers; that was something.

But this damp squib of an ending in the mixed doubles was more than disappointing.

Looking back, the big send off hosted by Sue Barker on Thursday night had had perfect timing.

No one knew then that his gentlemen’s doubles would be the last match of his storied career at the All England Club and, tearful and all as he was, he thought the show reel of his greatest triumphs with tributes from his three greatest rivals – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – was “really nice” even if the interview with Sue was hard going.

When she told him “I’m going to ask you about your family” he looked wan and groaned “oh no”. He knew he would not be able to get through that without tears. And he didn’t.

But the whole occasion, attended by his friends and rivals from the past and present, was a fitting end to a fabulous career. He was clearly touched by it all.

Of course, he has all of this to go through again in a few weeks. He is entered for singles and doubles at the Olympics in Paris (there is no mention of mixed doubles this time) and then he will hang his racket up for good.

His body cannot let him play the way he wants to and even if he wishes he could play “forever”, he has come to terms with retirement. The time has come. “I know that it's time now,” he said. “Yeah, I'm ready for that.”

As for Raducanu, if her wrist issues are, as she said, no more than a little stiffness, she should be fine for her next round. A day of light practice and treatment should be all she needs before taking on Sun, a qualifier ranked No.123 from New Zealand.