She now faces Germany’s Angelique Kerber while Puerto Rican Monica Puig will meet Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.
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He will face Rafael Nadal, of Spain, or Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, in Sunday’s final, according to the AP.
If he can muster the same kind of power against Murray, the Olympic final is likely to be a thriller. Murray will have a chance to win back-to-back gold medals with a victory here.
Learn about three-time Grand Slam victor Andy Murray, reigning Olympic men’s singles gold medalist and current world no. 2.
“It’s obviously not an easy thing to do – that’s why it has not been done before”. He defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori in a commanding display.
World No 2 Murray had dominated the early proceedings and clinched the first set 6-0 but Johnson, ranked No 22, fought back to take the second.
Murray looked on course for the simplest of wins after racing through the first set and finding himself a break up in the second, but a loss of concentration saw Fognini come roaring back to level the scores courtesy of three successive breaks.
“Andy gave me a lot of pressure and my concentration just wasn’t there to beat him”, said the fourth seed.
Johnson twice served to stay in the match, before ultimately coming up short in the tie-break which has been introduced as a rule change for this Olympics.
“It was an incredible experience, especially doing it with one of my best friends, with Marc, it’s something unforgettable for me, for both of us”, said Nadal. “For me it has nothing to do with having won the gold in London”.
“The atmosphere was tough, but at the same time I enjoy it”, Nadal told reporters. Del Potro, who earned a bronze for Argentina four years ago, will add a silver or gold to that after another stunning win. Both players were playing secure, holding their own and denying one another.
The Spaniard will also compete for a gold medal in the men’s doubles final later Friday, where he is teamed with compatriot Marc Lopez against a duo from Romania, Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau.
It’s been hard to assess the form and fitness of Del Potro this week, with the Argentine having not played a tough tournament like this one for a long, long time and who knows how much he’ll have left for Sunday.
“I have to play much better tennis for sure to beat him”.
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“I just tried to keep fighting and thankfully he made a few mistakes and I managed to get the win”. Murray was forced to dig deep in this match by Johnson. A win here and Nishikori guarantees to join Ichiya Kumagae as the only Japanese singles player to win an olympic medal.
