Tennis legend Andy Murray can breathe a sigh of relief. His wedding ring, which was tied to the laces of his shoes when they were apparently nabbed by a sneaky thief, has been returned.

The sweaty shoes, and the precious ring, vanished when Murray left them to air outside a California hotel room.

The star player said his room didn’t have a balcony or any outside area to safely store his shoes, so he left them under his car.

When he went to get them the next morning, the shoes – and the ring – were gone.

He issued an internet plea for their return, only to update fans with the good news in a video posted to Instagram on Friday morning (Australian time).

“A huge thanks for all the messages and to everyone for sharing the story about the shoes and the wedding ring.

“Had to make a few calls today and chat to the security at the hotel and everything and [I have] a little update for everyone.

In the clip, Murray pauses to take a sniff of his returned shoe – only to report that, while it was was back in his possession, its smell had not improved.

“Would you believe it. They still absolutely stink, but the shoes are back. The wedding ring is back. And I’m back in the good books. Let’s go!”

Murray, who married Kim Sears in 2015, has played with his wedding ring attached to one of his laces since.

That’s what he did for a practice session ahead of his opener in the Indian Wells tournament against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino – which led to the sweaty footwear being stashed under his car, from where they vanished.

The theft prompted the Scot to issue a video plea on Twitter on Thursday.

“Last night after dinner in Indian Wells, I got back in the car to go back to the hotel and it didn’t smell great. I’d left my tennis shoes in there … it’s been like 38-39 degrees so the shoes are damp, sweaty and smelly,” Murray said in his initial call-out.

“So I thought I’m going to leave the shoes under the car … overnight. When I got back to the car in the morning, the shoes were gone. I had to go to a local pro shop to buy different shoes to what I normally wear … which isn’t the end of the world but not ideal.

“I was preparing for my practice when my physio said to me ‘where’s your wedding ring?’. And I was like ‘oh no’ …. So yeah, my ring has been stolen as well. Needless to say I’m in the bad books at home, so I want to try and find it.”

🚨 PLEASE HELP ANDY MURRAY 🚨

💍 He's lost his wedding ring and tennis shoes! 😫 pic.twitter.com/ecTovLDnLm

— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) October 7, 2021