Murray, who won singles gold at the London Games, outclassed Monaco 6-3 6-1 and will next face either France’s Benoit Paire or Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
Advertisement
Defending champion Andy Murray raced into the Olympic Games third round Tuesday, blitzing close friend, Argentina’s Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-1. But he was outclassed by Murray who took the first set against Monaco on his third set point with ace to win 6-2.
He said: “I played pretty well, hit the ball well from the back of the court, with not many unforced errors”.
Murray leads Monaco by 3-2 in their ATP head2head matchup, but the 32-year-old Argentine, who easily dispatched Bosnian Mizra Basic in the first round with a 6-2 6-2 win, could follow the footsteps of his compatriot Juan Martin del Potro in upsetting top-ranked opponents.
The six matches that remained on Wednesday’s schedule after all of the changes included two apiece in men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed doubles. Asked how it was decided that he and Heather Watson would pair up, giving them only a slim chance of playing as they are two outside the cut while his brother, Jamie, and Johanna Konta are guaranteed a start, he said: “The plan was always that Jamie was going to play with Jo”.
The weather may have come as something of a blessing to the 10th seed, though, given she had to battle for more than three hours on Wednesday afternoon to see off Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Two-time grand slam champion Kuznetsova struck first in the decider with a break for 3-2 but Konta reeled off three games in a row to move to the brink of victory.
Another top women’s player who lost in the first round, Agnieszka Radwanska, will also get an additional shot at an Olympic run. That was it. Jamie’s a way more experienced doubles player than me.
“I’m over it. I have to go to the court again, I have a doubles match”.
The 2008 Olympic gold medallist Nadal overpowered Italy’s Seppi Andreas 6-3 6-3 despite admitting over the weekend that he was still not fully fit.
Advertisement
French Open champion Muguruza was the major casualty of the day, losing 6-1 6-1 to Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig.
