Britain’s Andy Murray advanced to the men’s Olympic final with a straight sets victory over Japan’s Kei Nishikori on Saturday, securing a chance to defend his title and become the first player to win back-to-back singles golds at the Games.
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Nishikori has only defeated 2008 Olympic champion Nadal in one of their previous nine meetings, beating him at the Rogers Cup in Toronto a year ago. After losing I have to play one more match for the medal. “I don’t understand why they want to give me that disadvantage”.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, meanwhile, won Olympic bronze in the women’s tennis singles, defeating American seventh seed Madison Keys 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
In an era dominated by three all-time greats, to accomplish something Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have not done first, and nearly certainly never will, is a huge feather in Murray’s cap.
The world number two, and reigning Wimbledon champion, will face either 2008 Olympic gold medallist Rafael Nadal or Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s championship match.
He said: “It’s obviously not an easy thing to do, that’s why it’s never been done before”. Nadal came up short in the tie-break.
“It means something very big for my career”, Del Potro told reporters.
Del Potro seemed to draw energy from a blue-and-white-clad contingent of fans from Argentina, whose loud chanting from the rafters – typical of Argentine football matches – at times drew rebukes from the chair umpire on Saturday.
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.
“I don’t understand the reason for that when I have only one match to play”. The Spaniard has shown tremendous grit throughout the Rio tournament after months without training. I’m not really thinking about the stuff that goes with it. With the win, Puig also became the first woman ever to win a medal for Puerto Rico.
Twenty-two-year-old Puig, ranked No. 34 in the world, went into the match as the underdog against Kerber, this year’s Australian Open champion.
By reaching the final, and defeating two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the semi-finals along the way, Puig has already guaranteed herself a medal, the ninth ever won by island nation Puerto Rico, a USA territory.
But Kerber, the world’s No. 2 female player who is known for her aggressive counter-attacking style, has delivered consistently dominant performances so far in Rio.
Nadal’s bid for an unprecedented second Olympic singles gold medal ended with the thrill-a-minute semifinal loss.
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Nadal is just the fourth player to win gold in Olympic singles and doubles after Serena and Venus Williams and Chile’s Nicolas Massu.
