Andy Murray’s proudest moment nearly became one in the eye for the Princess Royal at his dress rehearsal for carrying the flag at Friday night’s Olympic opening ceremony.
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Murray was nominated by British Tennis for the role, with cyclist Bradley Wiggins reportedly ruled himself out of the opportunity.
Murray, who is defending his Olympic gold medal he won at Wimbledon in 2012 by defeating Roger Federer, was selected from a number of candidates from all different criteria.
“The only time when defending a title has felt a bit unusual to me was at Wimbledon because you come out and open the tournament and there’s quite a big thing surrounding who’s playing the first match on Centre Court”, he said.
“To lead out Team GB will be an incredible honour and something I will remember for the rest of my life”.
Murray has said he is “100% focused on winning” in Rio, his third Olympic Games. “They’re obviously two guys who are great players and capable of winning at events like this, so it’s a great shame they aren’t here”, he said.
Djokovic’s maiden French Open title elevated the Serb, a victor of 12 grand slams, to the pantheon of tennis greats but a lacklustre third-round exit at Wimbledon has offered hope to Murray and his other rivals that his dominance may be ebbing.
“I was just getting into bed at about 1115 – I was in my trousers – and our team leader came and said, “the chef de mission needs to speak to you”.
He added: “I play both my first-round matches on Sunday”.
Perhaps all this talk of flag-waving pride, pomp and circumstance means it’s easy to forget that Murray is looking to become the first man to defend a Olympic men’s singles title in Rio.
Rio de Janeiro: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams will display their Grand Slam talents in Rio, but with serious questions being asked over tennis’s place in the Olympics after a host of high-profile pull-outs.
Four years ago in London, Murray won gold in men’s singles and silver in mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson.
But the honour has instead been bestowed upon 29-year-old Murray just weeks after he secured his second Wimbledon title.
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He is also playing in the doubles tournament with his brother, Jamie Murray, and the chance to win a medal together was also an inspiration to skip Toronto and put all his effort into this event.
