According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Murray is the favorite in this match, as he has -425 odds to win, while del Potro is listed with a money line of +330 to prevail.
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Murray has transformed the wasteland which was British tennis over the past decade – his tally of two Olympic titles, three Grand Slams and a Davis Cup won nearly single-handedly, place him in the highest echelon of sportsmen from our islands.
“This was tough emotionally and physically, there were lots of ups and downs”. Anyway, the concentration could not be like the previous years because of the tiredness, and so the British player wins Wimbledon and Olympics in the same year, which he nearly did in 2012 too.
The overnight leader was neck-and-neck with Stenson throughout much of the final round but he hit a lovely approach shot to within feet of the pin at the last hole. “Tonight anything could have happened”, he said.
“I was tremendously exhausted”. I’m very proud to have been the first one to have done that.
The see-saw match featured 14 breaks of serve in front of a raucous crowd.
In a dramatic passage of play, the South American was another break to the good but faltered when he served for the set in the 10th game.
Murray won’t have long to enjoy his gold medal achievement in Rio, as he returns to the ATP Tour this week for the Masters 1000 event in Cincinatti. Since London I’ve had back surgery, I’ve gone through some tough times on the court as well.
With two golds in the bag, Murray refused to entertain thoughts of a third gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
It has been a gruelling year but speaking of his grandson’s constant travelling Mr Erskine said: “He knows nothing else. I am happy to still be here and still playing”.
Instead, Del Potro’s love for the game won out one more time, and boy he is glad it did.
“To get himself back to playing at this level, fighting for the biggest events and competing against the greatest players in the world is an incredible credit to him”.
The 23-year-old made history by becoming the first British man to win a gold medal in the floor gymnastics. In doing so, the men’s World No. 2 has become the first tennis player to win consecutive gold medals. All of that from a player who came into Rio with a world ranking of 141.
“What he’s had to go through over the last three years or so with his wrists – I can’t imagine how mentally hard that would have been”, said the Briton.
The Scot, Britain’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony in Rio, had been a hot favourite to retain his title but he was pushed all the way by an impressive Del Potro, who was roared on by hundreds of passionate Argentine fans.
“I am sure there will be a big celebration once they (Murray and his team) come back”.
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Del Potro spent seven hours on court on Saturday and Sunday at the end of a week which started with him getting stuck in an elevator at the Athletes Village for 40 minutes on the morning of his match against Djokovic.
