Andy Murray suffered a losing start in his farewell to Wimbledon on Thursday, weeping openly in front of his adoring fans before admitting: "I wish I could play forever."

Murray, a two-time singles champion at Wimbledon, and brother Jamie were defeated 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 by Rinky Hijikata and John Peers of Australia in the first round of men's doubles.

It was the first episode of a retirement three-parter – the 37-year-old Murray is scheduled to play mixed doubles with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon before he retires at the Paris Olympics.

After having a metal hip inserted in 2019, suffering ankle damage this year and undergoing surgery to remove a cyst from his spine which ruled him out of singles at Wimbledon, Murray has reluctantly accepted the writing is on the wall.

His career has yielded three Grand Slam titles, two Olympic golds, a Davis Cup and the world number-one ranking.

"Look it's 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," he said.

Tears flowed when video tributes were paid to Murray by a number of stars, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. (AFP)