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Posted: 2024-07-05 02:13:38

All the emotions come out at Wimbledon on day four, with Aussies spoiling the Murray party, Thanasi Kokkinakis fearing the worst after another injury, while American Taylor Fritz fires up at an opponent after his victory.

Here are five quick hits from day four of Wimbledon 2024.

1: Aussies salute Andy Murray after spoiling emotional party

British tennis player Andy Murray and his brother Jamie shake hands with two Australian players at the net.

Andy Murray (right) and his brother Jamie were unable to win their doubles' match against the Aussie pair of John Peers and RInky Hijikata. ( AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Australian doubles duo John Peers and Rinky Hijikata are set to go down in the annals of tennis after beating a tearful great Andy Murray on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

But the pair won't be considered party poopers after they knocked out Murray and his older brother Jamie 7-6, (8/6), 6-4 in the first round of the men's doubles, as they then offered the 37-year-old legend a fond tribute amid the emotion-soaked celebrations that followed.

"It is very special for us to come out here and play today. It is nice to get through but I think everyone here just wants to come and support Andy," Hijikata told the cheering crowd after Thursday's triumph.

"It was all about Andy and the great champion he is. It was an absolute honour to step on the court with him before he finishes playing."

Peers, a previous doubles partner of Jamie Murray, echoed the sentiments.

"It is an absolute honour to be out here with Andy. Our words don't do it justice how good he is," he said.

Greats of the game including John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Murray's great rival Novak Djokovic and Australia's most-recent men's champion Lleyton Hewitt were on hand at courtside to salute him.

Sue Barker, the long-time master of ceremonies at Wimbledon, came out of retirement too.

Murray may have the mixed doubles to come with former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, but this was the night the All England Club grasped the opportunity to mark the Scot's ground-breaking 19 years there when he became the king of Wimbledon.

And as he winced and looked awkward in his movement, clearly still uncomfortable following the removal of a cyst from his spine last weekend — the surgery which forced him to abandon his planned singles swan song — it did feel as if this really ought to be his last match at Wimbledon.

If so, it was a near-perfect farewell — except for the result.

Hijikata and Peers were keen to spoil the party, and they proved true to his words by saving a set point in the first before going on to grasp the tie-break.

But after an early break in the second set, the Murray boys — unbeaten together in Davis Cup ties — didn't have the cohesion of their rivals.

There was hardly a dry eye in the house as Murray told Barker post-match: "The last few years have been hard for me.

"It is hard because I would love to keep playing, but I can't. Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven't been insignificant.

"I want to play forever, I love the sport and it's given me so much…I don't want to stop, so it is hard."

2: Kokkinakis fears the worst over Wimbledon knee injury

Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis sits in his chair at Wimbledon looking sad as a trainer examines his injured knee.

It was a sadly familiar situation for Thanasi Kokkinakis, who had to retire in the third set of his match with a knee injury.(Getty Images: Mike Hewitt)

Thanasi Kokkinakis will have an MRI scan in London to determine the extent of the injury that's wrecked his Wimbledon hopes — and he fears the worst.

The joy of his remarkable triumph over 17th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime from two sets down on Wednesday turned to misery less than 24 hours later in his second-round match against French qualifier Lucas Pouille.

Trailing 2-6, 7-5, 4-2, Kokkinakis — a big man who's often talked of how tentative he feels with his movement on grass courts — slipped and twisted his left knee while trying to retrieve a forehand.

The 28-year-old tumbled over, clearly in agony, while former French number one Pouille crossed the court to help attend to him.

Kokkinakis eventually soldiered on for one more game, but at 5-2 down limped across to tell Pouille there was no way he could continue.

"It was a tricky match. It started well but there was a weird kind of energy out there, it felt strange," Kokkinakis said.

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