Defending champion Andy Murray barely broke sweat in a 6-3 6-1 second-round victory over Juan Monaco but the same certainly could not be said for his fellow British number one.
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Murray, the reigning champion, won 6-3 6-1 to set up a third-round contest against Italy’s Fabio Fognini or Benoit Paire of France.
“It felt good, I played well from the back of the court”.
World number two Murray is looking to become the first man to win two Olympic singles golds, a cause helped when Juan Martin del Potro put out world number one Djokovic in the first round.
Puig, ranked 34, downed world number three Muguruza in just over an hour and will play Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tennis tournament.
First was due to be the clash between Petra Kvitova and Serena Williams’ conqueror Elina Svitolina, to be followed by Gael Monfils taking on Marin Cilic.
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza topped Japan’s Nao Hibino 6-1, 6-1.
Konta is also still in contention for an individual medal as she has progressed into the third round in the women’s singles, but she will have a chance to earn mixed doubles glory as well.
Murray made a bright start to his second round match, holding convincingly before outlasting his opponent in an extended rally, wrong-footing Monaco as he hit a cross-court forehand victor to secure an early break of serve.
As expected, the biggest-name team announced Tuesday was 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal paired with French Open victor Garbine Muguruza.
The most anticipated team before the Olympics – Switzerland’s Martina Hingis and Roger Federer – didn’t happen when Federer withdrew because of a knee injury.
Another absentee from the mixed is Novak Djokovic, who has called it quits on a disastrous Olympics that saw him lose in the both first round of the singles and men’s doubles.
“I was very shocked about how she played today”. Mahut and Herbert were seeded No. 1 in men’s doubles but lost in the first round. Fourth-seeded Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna of India meet Australia’s Sam Stosur and John Peers.
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Konta, who will link up with Andy’s older brother Jamie in the mixed doubles, expressed her relief after coming through a dramatic match with Kuznetsova.
