Former world number one Murray, who retired after playing Olympic doubles with Evans in Paris, knew it was the right time.
It did not stop floods of tears – from the 37-year-old Scot, Evans and plenty more watching on – as the curtain came down at Roland Garros.
Thiem, who won the 2020 US Open title, retired several weeks later at his home ATP event in Vienna.
After seeing his career derailed by a debilitating wrist injury, the 31-year-old Austrian’s intuition told him it was not worth carrying on any more.
“Tennis had been my whole life since a very young age so I was fighting against this inner feeling and hoping it goes away again,” he told BBC Sport.
“But instead of going away or getting weaker, it got stronger and got way more into my head.
“Once I made the decision there was a mix of negative and positive emotions – sadness, fear but also a little bit of happiness and looking forward to the time after.”
Evans knows the time is coming. But, for now, his inner feeling is to keep plugging away with the belief he can still compete.
“I’m still trying. I think I will get back inside the top 100 and that’s my goal,” he added.
“It will be a pretty good story to have dropped down to such a bad ranking and get back up.”