Olympic champion Andy Murray survived a major scare against Italy’s Fabio Fognini to reach the quarterfinals in Rio.
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The defending champion is now guaranteed to play for a medal but he will surely need to up his game substantially if he is to make it back-to-back golds.
Andy Murray was a relieved man after his hopes of a second Olympic gold medal were almost blown off course against Fabio Fognini.
But this time he maintained his momentum and broke Nishikori again for 3-2 in the second set with a lot of help from his opponent.
The players traded service breaks and blazing passing shots in the final set but Murray showed steady nerves to win the tiebreak, closing out the hardcourt match with a deftly placed overhead smash. “For me it has nothing to do with having won the gold in London”.
He said: “It’s obviously been hard, I’ve been in tough positions after great starts and I was close to going out”.
“Sometimes that can work in your favour as the tournament goes on”. We don’t get this opportunity all of the time.
It’s a huge win for the Briton, who – should he lose his semifinal match – will compete in a medal match regardless.
“I didn’t expect to reach the final, beating Djokovic and Rafa”, del Potro said, “but I did, and I get a medal, and it’s unbelievable for me”. “I’m glad I was able to win a medal and to win gold would cap off a special 10 days for me”.
Shortly after his match, Murray unexpectedly found himself going for gold on two fronts after the withdrawal of Romanians Monica Niculescu and Florin Mergea gave the British number one and Heather Watson a spot in the mixed doubles draw.
No tennis player has won two Olympic singles golds, let alone two in a row, as Murray is attempting to achieve.
The world No.40 won eight games in a row to lead 3-0 in the decider before Murray, as he so often does, fought back from the brink to claim a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory. The lone outsider? None other than Juan Martin Del Potro, whose dramatic run through the Rio de Janeiro draw continued with a 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory over Roberto Bautista Agut on Friday.
If Nadal makes the final, he will also be aiming to become the first man ever to win two Olympic golds in singles, after winning the title in 2008 at Beijing.
She said: “The Olympics isn’t about me, it’s about Puerto Rico and I know how bad they want this”.
Murray’s match turned out to be the appetiser for the second semi-final between Del Potro and Nadal, which more than lived up to its billing.
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The pair initially missed out but continued to sign in as alternates and were rewarded with a first-round match against Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro and David Ferrer.
