Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray will carry the British flag at Friday’s opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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Murray’s eagerness to play reflects the fact that for years he was in comfortable limbo as the fourth best player in the world – far better than all of his peers with the exception of the all-time greats Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
England, who headed the panel for the final selection, said a conversation with Murray convinced him the three-time grand slam victor was a worthy choice.
The reigning Wimbledon and Olympic men’s singles champion was nominated by the British Olympic Association on Wednesday after being selected ahead of a number of other candidates including boxer Nicola Adams. I never, ever thought I’d get the opportunity to do this and I’m just really, really proud.
He frequently cites the gold medal he won in London as his favourite career moment but does not expect it to have any impact on this tournament. “I’ll try to do it that way as it looks a bit better”.
Ranked No. 2 in the world, Andy Murray said he will be ready after Friday night’s festivities, which he said will be “inspiring”.
The cyclist Chris Hoy led the team out in London before Britain’s best performance in the Olympics for more than a century.
He loves representing the country, he loves team competition, and I know that when he was at the Olympics in London – particularly that whole sense of being part of a much bigger thing than just the tennis – it was a massive, massive thing for him.
Murray will face Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the first round of the quadrennial extravaganza.
“This year the schedule is tough with the US Open and Olympics so close and I needed to take a break after Wimbledon”, he admitted.
Murray insists he has no regrets about skipping the recent Rogers Cup in Canada, a top-tier Master Series event that he won 12 months ago.
The tournament will be played on hard courts at the brand new Olympic Tennis Centre.
This time, Murray said, he made sure to enjoy the moment and spent almost two weeks celebrating with his family and friends.
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Murray will also be competing in the doubles alongside older brother Jamie and the Scottish pair have been drawn against the Brazilian pair of Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa.
