Serena Williams paid tribute to Andy Murray after his emotional Wimbledon farewell on Thursday as she revealed the special place she holds in her heart for the 3-time Slam champion.
The Brit is playing at his home Slam for the final time after confirming this week that he will call time on his decorated career later this summer.
Murray still has an unfinished work at the All England Club with his mixed doubles campaign to start alongside Emma Raducanu but received a formal retirement ceremony on the Center Court after bowing out of men’s R1 doubles event with his brother Jamie Murray.
A special tribute video displaying heartwarming messages from Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams graced the presentation. And earlier today Serena took to social media to send the 2-time Wimbledon champion a beautiful message of her own.
The 23-time major champion also recalled her own mixed doubles experience with Murray when the pair reached R3 in 2019.
“Congratulations to you Andy Murray for such an incredible career,” she said in her tribute to the 37-year-old.
“I have to say I’ve always enjoyed watching you. One of the main reasons is that you would be one of the few players more angry than me on the court – which is a very hard thing to do – and you may have had a little attitude just like mine, let’s just say!
“To me, it was the most exciting thing to watch and I had the pleasure of playing mixed doubles by your side, which was such a fantastic experience to do that at Wimbledon nonetheless.
“It was really one of the highlights of my life. I’m just so grateful that I had that experience.”
Williams also celebrated Murray’s advocacy for the women’s game and WTA players.
The former World No. 1 has long been singled out as the most loyal ATP ally for WTA players and Williams highlighted his support for the women’s tennis in her message.
She added: “I also hold a special place in my heart to you because you always speak out so much for women and everything women deserve.
“You were the leader in that and the things you spoke up on, the things you said about myself and Venus about how we were so inspiring and what we meant to you, it really went such a long way in my heart.
“I will always be grateful for the support you gave myself, the support you gave women and the excitement that you bring to tennis. I feel like watching you win Wimbledon, the US Open, those gold medals, were so exciting and I just truly enjoyed it.
“I’ve always been such a fan as you already know, and I will always be cheering for you in whatever you decide to do next. Congratulations on such an amazing career.”