Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, drops to the court as he celebrates his victory over Rafael Nadal, of Spain, during their semi-final round match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016.
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Nadal also advanced to the singles semifinals to face Juan Martin del Potro.
Murray, who just won Wimbledon, is playing the best tennis of anyone on Earth right now; he defeated Kei Nishikori by straight sets in the other semi-final.
I’m also in the quarter-finals in singles, which is also very important, but I came here not expecting anything, having practised nearly zero for the last two months. “I just want to see a medal”. The other semifinal was much closer, with Rafael Nadal taking the first set and Del Potro taking the second before it came down to a tiebreak in the third.
Three of the top four seeds are in the men’s singles semis with Del Potro, who beat top seed Novak Djokovic, being the lone exception. That same formula worked against Nadal, with 18 of del Potro’s 19 groundstroke winners coming off his preferred wing. “Then he takes control of the points”.
He came into the Olympics strong and was in contention to win this match, but Nishikori’s mental fortitude kicked in, Not only did he save several match points, he turned the match around to win his way into the semifinals by beating the Frenchman 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6).
“I am satisfied. I did my best”.
Murray hopes to become the first singles tennis player to win back-to-back olympic gold medals.
Perhaps wary of drawing the ire of all of those flag-waving fans, Nadal offered a rather muted reaction – none of the leaps or uppercuts or yells of “Vamos!” he’d displayed earlier at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Kvitova returned to form in the second set, taking the score to 6-1 in 35 minutes. “It’s not easy, that’s why it’s never been done before, but I will go out there and give it my best”, said the 29-year-old world number two.
It marked a first ever singles defeat for Nadal at the Olympics but Rio had already far exceeded the Beijing champion’s expectations.
The British tennis superstar looked superb in the opening set, cruising to a 6-0 win before Johnson tied the match with a 4-6 victory in the second set.
Rose did a little shimmy when his 10-foot par putt on the final hole Saturday swirled in the back side of the cup for a 6-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead over British Open champion Henrik Stenson going into the final round – the medal round – at Olympic Golf Course.
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Nadal will compete against Nishikori for singles bronze at approximately 1 PM ET on court 1.
