Andy Murray vows to give it his all as he bids for a second Olympic gold medal in the final of the men’s singles tournament on Sunday.
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Murray will face Japan’s Kei Nishikori who edged out France’s Gael Monfils 7-6 (4) 4-6 7-6 (6) in a tense third set tie-break after facing repeated match points.
Murray had cause for confidence going into the match having won six of his previous seven matches against Nishikori but their last meeting in Davis Cup in March turned into a five-set marathon after the Scot had won the opening two sets.
The No. 2-seeded Murray earned a gold in singles and a silver in mixed doubles for Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, the AP reports, and is guaranteed to leave Brazil with no worse than a silver.
Murray didn’t face a single break point in the match.
Andy Murray defeated Viktor Troicki in the first round, Juan Monaco in the second round and Fabio Fognini in the third round.
A disagreement with the umpire at 2-2 amid a code violation showed tensions were running high, but Murray responded in fine fashion with a break to love. The goal on days like today is not to play well, but to try to win.
“The atmosphere was tough, but at the same time I enjoy it”, Nadal told reporters.
The 30-year-old Nadal has already played nine matches at the Olympics in his pursuit of double gold.
After almost losing a tight quarterfinal match against 12th-seeded American Steve Johnson, reigning gold medalist Andy Murray returned to form in his semifinal against 4th-seeded Kei Nishikori.
It is just a real shame that the Centre Court arena was less than a quarter full when the players walked out and the numbers did not improve much during the match.
Nadal was aiming to become the first man ever to win two Olympic golds in singles, after winning the title in 2008 at Beijing.
But the momentum turned abruptly and Fognini, one of the most talented but unpredictable players on tour, seized his chance.
Learn about three-time Grand Slam victor Andy Murray, reigning Olympic men’s singles gold medalist and current world no. 2.
“After carrying the flag, I didn’t want to go and bomb out in the first round and not play well”.
Hlavackova and Hradecka had been just two points from victory over Martina Hingis and Swiss teammate Timea Bacsinszky in their semi-final on Friday.
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Deuce came and went, before a sensational 23 shot rally brought up match point.
