But three-times Grand Slam champion Murray refused to panic, and promptly broke back before seeing off a Johnson break point at 4-4 in the third set which appeared to be a virtual match point due to the fearless way the California native was approaching the ball.
Advertisement
Murray will face either Spain’s Rafael Nadal or Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in Sunday’s final.
“For the medal I think I have to play well against Andy”, Nishikori said, reports The Japanese Times. He was giving me a little pressure, but still my concentration wasn’t there enough to beat Andy today.
“I can not describe how I did [this] tonight”. This is something new for me. After losing I have to play one more match for the medal.
“I didn’t make my first serves, and I couldn’t get into a good rhythm”.
Meanwhile, Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who knocked out world number one Novak Djokovic in the first round, is in the last eight after a 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-2 win over Japan’s Taro Daniel.
MURRAY’S FORM: His victory over del Potro stretched Murray’s winning streak to a career-high 18 matches, including a second Wimbledon title. Too many things in only one week.
“My concentration wasn’t there and I wasted a lot of points through my own mistakes”. “I just tried my best until the end, and I’m very satisfied”.
The players traded service breaks and blazing passing shots in the final set, but Murray showed steady nerves to win the tiebreak, closing out the match with a deftly placed overhead smash.
The 2009 U.S. Open champion, whose route to the final included being stuck in an Olympic village elevator for 40 minutes before his first round win, claimed his second Olympic medal after a bronze at the 2012 London Games. “I served by far the best I have this week”.
“Whoever, I play in the final, it’s going to be hard match and I’m going to need to fight and give it everything”.
Murray cried into his towel while del Potro wiped away the tears from his eyes, taking the applause from a crowd which had backed him throughout the tournament.
Brazil’s Thomaz Belucci beat Belgium’s David Goffin in two close sets on Thursday to set up a quarter-final clash between against Nadal.
But an extremely unhappy Murray quickly retorted: “No, I didn’t say stupid umpire, I said “stupid umpiring”. I’m glad I was able to win a medal and to win gold would cap off a special 10 days for me”.
Murray could barely contain his frustration at the way he was playing but his fighting spirit can never be questioned and he hit straight back before saving another break point in a very tense exchange.
Advertisement
“To get himself back to playing at this level, fighting for the biggest events and competing against the best players in the world is an awesome credit to him”.
