“It s very big, maybe even more special than when I won the US Open”, said del Potro, who was mobbed by Argentine fans at the end of the semi-final. Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina has not. Murray is 4-1 against Del Potro on hard court. Things were relatively calm until the fifth game with the Spaniard breaking to love, getting off to a good start when del Potro double faulted. The crowd roared: “Del-po! Del-po! Del-po!” Del Potro dropped the tenth game to Nadal 40-0 to tie the set 5-5.
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It went to a third set tiebreak.
Ranked 34th in the world, she will face No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany on Saturday.
However the Scot swaggered into the lead in the semi, dropping only one game in the first set with a 6-1 scoreline.
Final score: 5-7, 6-4, 7 (7)-6 (5). Moments later, del Potro planted a smooch on the dot atop the middle letter of “Rio” near the five rings.
The men’s singles tennis competition is into the semifinal round, and the last two gold medalists in the event are still alive. Del Potro had suffered multiple wrist injuries since 2010 that have required numerous surgeries; he only reappeared at February’s Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, where he advanced to the semifinals.
But del Potro downed Djokovic – then Sousa, Daniel and Bautista Agut.
The two have played each other 10 times, with Nadal winning nine of those contests.
In other 2016 Rio Olympics Tennis results, the mixed doubles team of Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock advances to the gold medal match over the Czech Republic team comprised of Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradeka. Murray has now won 30 of his last 34 sets and continues to make a strong case for the top player in the world title.
That injury caused him to miss Wimbledon and kept him from playing professionally for two months.
Victory for Nadal would give him a third Olympic medal to add to his 2008 singles title in Beijing and doubles gold in Rio on Friday alongside Marc Lopez.
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Murray, the world No 2, put in a strong performance on Centre Court, particularly on his own serve, to book his place in a second straight gold medal encounter. The 2009 US Open champion, who rose to a career-high world number four the following year, knows how fortunate he is just to be back on court at the Rio Olympics, four years after he claimed a bronze medal in London.
