It was at this point, facing eviction from a competition he values as highly as any grand slam, that Murray’s spirit awoke.
Advertisement
The defending champion is now guaranteed to play for a medal but he will surely need to up his game substantially if he is to make it back-to-back golds.
Murray played down the significance of the moment, saying: “On that point I hit a good return”.
Even when sitting down, Murray rose to the challenge.
“It’s obviously awesome to be in the final again”, Murray told Bravo Network’s Trenni Kusnierek. I think maybe only the last game was the only one that went to deuce on my serve.
However, Murray was not at his best and he was stunned as Fognini suddenly started to produce his best form, with a series of fine ground strokes seeing him take a grip of the second set. Both of us came in feeling a bit tired.
As the third set got underway there was nothing to separate the two players. “I’m just really happy to be in the final again”. The one major liability in the Japanese player’s game is that he does not have the luxury of a serve that can get him free points.
In the top half of the draw, Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro beat Roberto Agut Bautista of Spain 7-5 7-6 (7-4) to secure a semi-final with Rafael Nadal who came from a set behind against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci to complete a 2-6 6-4 6-2 succcess.
For a long time it seemed like the world number seven was destined to suffer a repeat of London 2012 where he exited at the quarter-final stage.
However, the match was marred by Murray receiving a code violation early in the second set.
But it’s Murray who has dominated the head-to-head between the two.
The Wimbledon champion’s first serve is a more risky weapon: He served 76 percent, won 82 percent of his first-serve points and did not face a break point.
Nishikori went into his semifinal after a grueling three-set win over France’s Gael Monfils the previous day in a match that lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes and saw Nishikori fight back from three match points down to claim the victory. On the second, the fourth seed sent a backhand wide and both were saved, sending the game to deuce.
Advertisement
Murray had nearly twice the number of points as the Japanese, 61 to 39 and hit 15 winners to Nishikori’s 13. Nishikori barely held his serve, but he desperately needed a break of his own to keep his Olympic dream alive. Stepping into a forehand drive down the line, he broke for 3-1. The umpire Carlos Ramos reprimanded the 29-year-old Scot for saying “stupid umpire” in frustration.
