Williams was bidding to become the first player to win gold medals in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
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His second Olympic victory adds to the glory he achieved in London four years ago and also saw his winning streak extended to eighteen, his most recent loss coming in the final of the French Open in June.
The Rio Olympics delivered one high-profile upset after another over the eight days of tennis matches that culminated Sunday with Murray’s final showdown with Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro. With Stan Wawrinka, Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem or Milos Raonic off the chart, a potential final between Murray and Djokovic was something likely probable.
A topsy-turvy opening set saw Murray finally land first blood when he broke the Argentinian for a third time, first with a whipped cross court victor, then a piercing backhand down the line.
Murray’s consistency proved decisive. Not all were pretty, though, as they combined for 102 unforced errors, and 85 winners.
Britain’s Andy Murray became the first tennis player to win two Olympic singles titles by beating Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday in Rio.
Murray, who has now won his last 18 matches since the grass-court season began in June, cut a exhausted figure after withstanding a raucous atmosphere and Del Potro’s powerful groundstrokes to deliver a four-set win on a giddying day for Team GB here. “It was tough. There were so many ups and downs”.
It’s not by some quirk of fate that del Potro has managed 37 wins against top 10 contenders.
Murray took a 5-2 career advantage over 2012 bronze medallist del Potro into the final and he was quickly in the ascendancy, breaking for a 2-0 lead.
Earlier Sunday, Kei Nishikori won bronze, Japan’s first Olympic tennis medal since 1920.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 14/08/2016.
The Jamaican sprinter’s swan song in the Olympic 100 meters was a pedestrian-by-his-standards 9.81-second sprint, capped off by pointing to his chest a step before the finish line. “I can only imagine how frustrating that must have been to keep going and try and comeback”.
“What he’s had to go through over the last 3 years or so with his wrists – I can’t imagine how mentally hard that would have been, how frustrating that would have been for him”, added Murray. The match in the final there was fairly straightforward. “To have the chance to have two is much more than a dream”.
In the run-up to Rio, there was plenty of discussion about the relationship between the Olympics and tennis, which returned to the program in 1988 after a 64-year absence.
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London Mayor Sadiq Kahn made the same mistake on Twitter in congratulating Murray on his win, the Evening Standard reported.
