The Scot won 6-1 6-4 and will play Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s gold-medal match (19:00 BST) after the Argentine beat Spain’s Rafael Nadal. The action on the court was only enhanced by the soccer-like atmosphere created by a large contingent of traveling Argentines that has accompanied Del Potro throughout the Olympics.
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Nadal, who won gold in the men’s doubles with Marc Lopez on Friday, took the first set before Del Potro levelled.
In Murray’s favour – no man has beaten the Top 3 seeds to win an Olympic title, though two men have defeated the Top 2 seeds en route to Olympic gold – Miloslav Mecir (1988) and Murray (2012).
Del Potro, a bronze medallist in London four years ago, was inconsolable, weeping as he sat courtside.
Both players were visibly emotional at the conclusion as Brazilian, Argentinean and the odd smattering of British fans stood to salute them after their titanic tussle.
The 29-year-old Scot, victor of three grand slams, called the Rio encounter “one of the hardest matches I’ve had to play for a big title”. His first major tournament back was in June at Wimbledon and he still is not completely able to rip two-handed backhands the way he used to, often relying on righty slices.
Del Potro had played just 25 matches in 30 months coming into the Olympics and was ranked a lowly 145 in the world. By the fourth set, he was leaning on his racket as if it were a cane. His supporters responded dutifully, raising a ruckus with their song of “Ole, ole, ole, ole!”
At other times, they bounced in place and shouted in Spanish, “Whoever isn’t jumping is English!” Getting to be Great Britain’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony was, he said, the “number one” moment of his career. Before beating Roger Federer in the 2012 Olympic final, Murray had never earned one of his sport’s most significant titles.
“I’m happy that I’m still here competing for the biggest events and I’ll try and keep going”.
Instead, it’s Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, a good player but not one who many predicted would make the finals as an unseeded entrant.
In a gripping semifinal, Del Potro rallied back from a set down and served for the match at 5-4 in the decider, only for Nadal to break him to love.
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Kei Nishikori won Japan’s first Olympic tennis medal in nearly a century when he captured bronze against Nadal, despite the tired Spaniard mounting a stirring mid-match fightback.
