“Maybe even better”, Del Potro said after the match, per the Associated Press (h/t Tennis.com).
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Murray broke that crucial game to wrap up the match and became the first man in the history to defend his Olympic gold medal in the open era.
Murray’s win comes five weeks after he claimed his second Wimbledon title and four years after London 2012 success.
Having dispelled vital energy in the first set, Del Potro, who defeated Rafa Nadal in three sets during the semi-final, rallied in the second set to beat Murray 6-4 to level the match.
MEDAL COUNT: Despite what happened in singles and doubles to the Williams sisters, and even though the country’s highest-ranked man, John Isner, opted to skip the Olympics, the US wound up with the best haul: one gold (Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock in mixed doubles), one silver (Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram in mixed) and one bronze (Sock and Steve Johnson in men’s doubles).
Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Andy Murray’s journey to the finals was much less dramatic, as he imposed his will on his semifinal opponent, Japan’s Kei Nishikori. After 74 minutes, Del Potro’s energy reserves would be tested now.
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. Not all were pretty, though, as they combined for 102 unforced errors, and 85 winners.
Andy Murray has won the men’s singles gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, besting Juan Martin del Potro in four sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
“Emotionally it was tough”.
Murray leads del Potro 5-2 in their previous match-ups but certainly won’t underestimate the Argentine when they meet on Centre Court. He was able to wear down Del Potro’s weaker backhand and frequently drew the worn out Argentine into the net with deftly placed drop shots as the contest wore on.
Briton Andy Murray outlasts Del Potro to land gold was posted in Sports of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on August 15, 2016 and was last updated on August 15, 2016.
Nishikori triumphed 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 to become the first Japanese tennis medallist since Antwerp in 1920 when the country won men’s silver and men’s doubles silver.
“It was brilliant”, Bolt said.
“I’ll try and keep going. I told you guys I was going to do it”.
“At the time, it was the first time I had ever won any major event and it was a home Olympics”. Andre de Grasse of Canada took the bronze.
Klishina was the only one of 68 Russians cleared to participate in Rio by the IAAF, largely because she has been based outside Russia for the past three years.
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CAS ruled that Klishina was eligible to compete because she fulfilled the requirements set by the IAAF.
