He becomes the second successive Scotsman to carry Great Britain’s flag at the Olympic Games, with the honour having been bestowed on track cycling great Sir Chris Hoy at London 2012.
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The professional Scottish player, who won Wimbledon recently, did not do well with the flag in the pre-Olympic event just two days before the opening ceremony.
And a poll from Metro.co.uk revealed there was strong support for Jessica Ennis-Hill to lead out Team GB ahead of a string of other contenders including Murray.
“It was great winning Wimbledon again but it’s time to move on and focus on this event and I feel in a good place”. The privilege of being the Flagbearer is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life and will certainly be one of the highlights of my career.
He spoke of his pride at being put forward for the role, saying: “I am very proud to be selected”.
Murray could be in action the day after the opening ceremony at the Maracna Stadium, with men’s singles matches scheduled for Saturday in Rio.
No. 4 Nadal won a singles gold for Spain in Beijing, missed London because he was hurt, and appealed to the International Tennis Federation to allow him to compete in Rio after he failed to fulfill Davis Cup commitments because of injuries.
According to BOA Chief Executive Bill Sweeney, as few as 55 members of Britain’s 366-strong team may represent Team GB in the ceremony, with numerous athletes competing the next day not taking part and many others remaining at a holding camp in Belo Horizonte.
Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych, as well as women’s players Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova, are the players at whom Murray was taking aim for not going to Rio because of Zika.
In the doubles Andy and brother Jamie Murray will play Brazilian home favourites Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa in their opener.
World number one Djokovic said he has no fears about playing in Rio where he seeks a first Olympic gold medal to add to the career Grand Slam of the four majors he completed at the French Open in June.
The Argentinian, whose ranking has dropped after virtually two years out with wrist problems, defeated Djokovic to win bronze in London in 2012.
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Before injury forced him out of the Olympics, world number three Roger Federer had said that he was intending to stay in a hotel rather than with the Swiss team.
