Andy Murray bumped into Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Olympic Village and described the star as his “favourite athlete”. The Scottish tennis ace is preparing to represent Great Britain in the Olympics, with Alcaraz competing for Spain.
Murray has been one of the finest players in the history of British tennis after winning three Grand Slam titles throughout his illustrious career as well as two Olympic gold medals.
But the 37-year-old is set to bring the curtain down on his career after announcing the Paris Games will be his last tournament.
Murray will compete in the singles on the Roland Garros courts in Paris, while teaming up with Dan Evans for the doubles competition.
And with the action set to get underway on Saturday, Murray bumped into Alcaraz and posted a picture of the chance encounter to his Instagram page as he wrote: “Managed to grab a photo with my favourite athlete @carlitosalcarazz.” He added a heart emoji to show his appreciation of the 21-year-old.
The veteran also posted the snap to his story and captioned it by writing: “Think this guy has a bright future in tennis.”
Alcaraz is the red-hot favourite to win the Olympics singles gold medal after clinching his first French Open trophy at the same venue earlier this year. He is also part of a blockbuster line-up alongside Rafael Nadal in the doubles.
The ace has become one of the most recognisable tennis stars on the planet in recent years after clinching his first Grand Slam trophy at the US Open in 2019 as a 19-year-old.
He saw off Novak Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon finals, while getting the better of Alexander Zverev in this year’s showpiece event at the French Open.
After touching down in Paris, Murray wrote on Instagram: “Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament @Olympics competing for (Team GB). Have been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get do it one final time.”
And after being honoured by Sue Barker on Centre Court at Wimbledon earlier this month, the star choked back tears as he explained: “It is hard, because I would love to keep playing but I can’t. Physically it’s just too tough now. All of the injuries have added up and like I said they haven’t been insignificant.
“I want to play forever. I love this sport. It’s given me so much, taught me loads of lessons over the years that I can use for the rest of my life. I don’t want to stop so it is hard.”
