There was not a dry eye in SW19 on Thursday evening as Andy Murray played one of his final matches at Wimbledon.

The 37-year-old tennis ace, who has enjoyed a 19-year career and has won three Grand Slam titles, lost out in the doubles as he teamed up with his brother Jamie; while his wife Kim and mother Judy tearfully watched on in the audience. 

The Murray brothers were beaten in the men’s doubles by John Peers and Rinky Hijikata in a 7-6, 6-4 defeat – but the crowd, as always, was behind tennis ace Murray all the way.

Following the defeat, Dunblane-born Andy paid tearful tribute to his brother, telling Sue Barker: ‘It was obviously very special to play with Jamie. 

‘It was a race against time to get out here and physically it wasn’t easy but I’m glad we were able to do it one time together.’

They were the words of a true family man who has put his loved ones front and centre throughout his career – particularly his wife and children. 

As he has continued to rise to the very top of his career, Murray’s mother, Judy, who raised her sons largely as a single mother, has also been one of his closest supporters – having encouraged his tennis career from childhood.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the close family members who make up Team Murray – led by his teenage sweetheart wife, Kim…

Teenage sweethearts to a family-of-four

Kim Murray, née Sears, first met her tennis beau husband at the US Open in 2005 when she was 17 and he was 18

The tennis ace’s loyal and supportive wife was teary-eyed in the stands on Centre Court last night as Andy and Jamie played Men’s Doubles together

The tennis champ met his now-wife Kim at the 2005 US open when he was only 18 years old. At the time, Kim’s father Nigel was head of the Women’s Section of the Lawn Tennis Association and his 17-year-old daughter had accompanied him on the work trip.

In 2006, Kim flew out to San Jose, California – where she witnessed her boyfriend win his first ever tournament. 

In a previous interview with Hello magazine, Kim explained how she never anticipated Andy’s career to take off in the way it did. 

She said: ‘I went away with him thinking it’s fine because he’s never going to win so I’ll be back in time for school on Monday and then he did.

Kim surprised her husband Andy yesterday when she brought their four children to watch him play at the Nottingham Open

‘I remember saying to my mum, you’ve got to call in and tell them I’ve got the winter vomiting virus and I won’t be in but then it was on the front cover of the paper so I was busted.’

Following this career-changing win, Andy’s career continued going from strength-to-strength and Kim was spotted at almost every one of his games while studying an English Literature degree at the University of Sussex. 

In 2012, Andy was left visibly heartbroken when he lost the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer after a gruelling three hour match.

Appearing in a BBC documentary, Andy’s ever supportive partner opened up about how crushing that loss had been.

Pictured: Andy ran straight over to the box where Kim was watching with his loved ones and gave his girlfriend a passionate kiss following his first Wimbledon win in 2013

She said: ‘There were a lot of tears. It is just horrible seeing someone you care about going through that. 

‘We had all been there. The immediate aftermath wasn’t pretty.’

But just a year later, he became the first British man in 77 years to win the tournament. 

On seeing Murray win, she put her hands on her head in apparent disbelief and mouthed: ‘Oh my God.’ 

Minutes earlier, she had said ‘I can’t believe this’ as Murray won yet another vital point.

After claiming the title, Andy ran straight over to the box where Kim was watching with his loved ones and gave his girlfriend a passionate kiss.

Two years later, the couple married at Dunblane Cathedral in Scotland and held their reception at Cromlix House, the £1.8million luxury country house hotel which the star owns.

Pictured: Newlyweds Andy Murray and Kim seas on their wedding day in Dunblane, Scotland in April 2015

Allowing Andy’s career to take precedence yet again, Kim delayed their honeymoon so her new husband could attend a tennis training camp.

He told the New York Times in 2015:  ‘I think getting married is a progression. It’s a step forward in your life away from the court. 

‘But I still need to work hard […] I didn’t go on a honeymoon after we got married. I went to Barcelona and trained for 10 days to get ready for the clay-court season.’

What’s more, Andy says he is grateful that Kim grew up with tennis through her father – meaning she’s never been resentful about him having to travel so much with work.

Above all, Andy went on to describe his wife as ‘very protective’ and ‘very loyal’. 

In 2016, Kim welcomed the couple’s daughter Sophia. Andy has since revealed that becoming a father changed his attitude towards his career.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday later that year, tennis ace explained: ‘Becoming a parent is life-changing and if it helps my tennis, great. 

‘And if it doesn’t, that’s fine. That’s not a problem for me now. My priority is to be a good father first.

”Id rather be getting up in the middle of the night and helping [with Sophia] than winning every tennis match and her thinking when she grows up: ‘Actually, you know what, he was a s****y dad but he won a lot of tennis matches so, you know, well done.”

What’s more, Andy has also said that having children has given him some much-needed perspective at times.

He told the Guardian in 2016: ‘[Fatherhood] is a positive thing – and tennis not being your priority can help. It lends perspective when you have a bad loss or bad practice. 

‘The outcome of a match is not everything but I want my daughter to be proud of her dad when she grows up and sees what I did. I hope it works out in a positive way on the court but if it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world.’

In recent years, Andy has struggled with arthritis in his hip – meaning he has had to undergo two gruelling surgeries. 

As such, the former world’s number one dropped out of the top 100. However, he later went on to explain that Kim played in a key part in getting him back on the court.

Andy told the Telegraph in 2017: ‘There’s a number of times in the last two years that I had stopped.

The couple pictured watching England’s Amir Khan in action against Australia’s Gairy St Clair during the Commonwealth in February 2008

Andy Murray seemed in high spirits as he lifted son Teddy, three, over his head while enjoying a family holiday in Marbella earlier this year

The sporting champ joked that his first attempt at coaching had ‘ended in disgrace’ after his daughter told him she no longer wanted to play

‘I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this any more.’ But Kim, she was always trying to keep me going, and trying to help get me back on the court, stay motivated, and always happy for me to go and train and go away and stuff.’

Despite his best efforts to pass on some of his tennis talent to his youngest daughter, the sporting star detailed how it had all spectacularly backfired on his Instagram. 

Following their training session earlier this year, Andy was left stunned when his five-year-old wrote him a letter to tell him she no longer wanted to continue their working relationship.

The adorable note read: ‘Dear daddy, I am not going to play tennis for a while. Lots of love, Edie.’ 

Alongside her note, Andy’s second child then drew a picture of her father holding a tennis racket and put a large red cross through it. 

Showing that there was no love lost between them, Edie then signed off the letter with some kisses and love hearts. 

Speaking to This Morning’s Alison Hammond in 2021, the tennis star said his proudest achievement is getting all four children to bed on time. 

He also revealed that his eldest daughter, Sophia, plays tennis once a week.

The tennis coaching mother 

Judy Murray, who became a qualified tennis coach herself and could have played professionally after she was offered a scholarship aged 17

Murray’s mother, Judy, could barely contain her emotions last night as she appeared to burst with pride when her son spoke to Sue Barker on Centre Court following the men’s doubles defeat.

She has long publicly supported both Andy and Jamie as one of their biggest fans, using her Instagram and X accounts to sing their praises as tennis players and as people. 

Judy, who qualified as a tennis coach when she was 19 years old, has previously spoken out about how she as initially portrayed as an ‘aggressive’ figure in her sons’ lives, rather than the supportive parent and mentor she has shown herself to be in recent years.

Judy was also pictured watching her sons play doubles together at Wimbledon for the first time last night – and she could barely contain her emotions

She previously told the Mail: ‘I was painted as Tiger Mum, a nightmare parent. But I should never have been made to feel I had to apologise for being there for my kids, or for being competitive. If I’d been a man I would have been lauded and applauded for it.’ 

In the same interview she revealed she regretted turning down a tennis scholarship herself in the US when she was 17 years old. 

‘It was a very different world. America was so far away from Scotland. Sports scholarships weren’t that common. I simply wasn’t brave enough to do it. I’m not really one for regrets — I’ve had a great life — but it’s the one thing I wonder about,’ she said.

She was the initial coach of both Andy and Jamie Murray until they turned professional, helping trigger Andy’s interest in tennis by taking him to local tennis courts at the age of three.

Kim Sears pictured cheering on Andy with his mother Judy Murray from the Wimbledon box in 2008

The 64-year-old has let the British Fed Cup team as captain in the past, and received an OBE for services to tennis, women in sport and charity in 2017.

She has gone onto make a number of media appearances and appear as a celebrity on various television shows, such as Master Chef, The Chase and Strictly Come Dancing.

She divorced Andy’s father, William Murray, in 2005.

When she’s not showing support for her sons on social media; she is showing it in person – always in the stands for Andy’s big matches. 

Speaking to The Times just this week, she recalled her youngest son’s rise up the ranks to eventually become the World No. 1.

During his first serious run at Wimbledon, Andy was promoted from Court 2 to the prestigious Centre Court – and with the spotlight came scrutiny.

She said: ‘I… remember sitting in the players’ box that I had seen on the TV for years and years as a tennis fan, never thinking for a minute I’d ever be in there. 

‘I’ve got one eye on my son and I’ve got the other eye on the Royal Box where Sean Connery was. You’ve got James Bond supporting your boy.’ 

Much like Kim, Judy has also been by Andy’s side during the low points as well. She recalled picking him up following his first Wimbledon defeat to Roger Federer. 

The concerned mother recalled struggling to get her son to ‘move off the sofa’ while she and Kim tried to coax him into taking part in activities he loves, such as go-karting. 

When Murray did win his first Wimbledon title in 2013, Judy revealed she didn’t actually enjoy the match at all – instead being overcome by nerves as he took on Novak Djokovic.

Tennis ace brother

Tennis ace Andy was partly inspired in his career by his older brother Jamie (left), who was actually the first Murray sibling to lift a Wimbledon trophy

While Andy Murray is hailed as Britain’s greatest Wimbledon champion in almost a century, his brother Jamie was actually the first Murray sibling to raise a trophy at SW19.

Ever the humble champ, Judy has revealed that Andy, who was one of the most famous players in the world at the time Jamie competed to win the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles trophy, was keen not to steal the limelight from his brother by sitting in the players’ box while Jamie and Jelena Jankovic stormed to victory.

Instead, he sat in one of the commentary boxes so as not to draw attention to himself.

The brothers embraced in an emotional moment as the younger sibling was thrown a farewell ceremony in SW19

Jamie is the older brother of Andy and also plays professionally, but hasn’t quite been as successful in his career – in terms of singles, at least.

When it comes to doubles, however, he is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, succeeding five times in mixed doubles competition and twice in men’s doubles. Those titles include two Wimbledon titles.

Off-the-court, Jamie is married to Colombian Alejandra Gutierrez, tying the knot in 2010, with Andy best man. He and Gutierez have one daughter together – Ava – born in 2022.

The brothers have played together in the past, including at the 2015 Davis Cup win, but they had never teamed up at Wimbledon until yesterday.

Ahead of their teaming up, Jamie told the Guardian that it was a ‘now or never’ situation over fulfilling their lifelong dream to play together in doubles.

He said: ‘We’ve had some amazing expe­­riences on the court together, particularly in Davis Cup and yeah, I think for us to be able to play at Wimbledon would be really cool.’

 ‘And from my point of view, hopefully it happens and we get a good crowd support.’ 

Jamie had no need for concern; as the crowd, as always, went wild for the Murray brothers.