Murray added the Rio title to his 2012 triumph and to his Grand Slam collection of the 2012 US Open and 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon crowns.
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It also stretched the 29-year-old’s current winning streak to 18.
In a classic that lasted over four hours, the British number one prevailed by a 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5 scoreline to match his achievement in London four years ago. He started his career by becoming the second player in the Open era to drop his first four Grand Slam finals. A lot has changed since 2012, I’m happy here competing for the biggest events. I suffered when I wasn’t able to play and today tennis is making me very happy again.
Both players struggled to hold early on as Murray moved Del Potro around at will, dictating points from the back of the court.
The tone for the game was set early as the Scot began strongly and Del Potro responded superbly during the first set, eventually losing 7-5 as Murray sealed the final game with an unplayable passing shot.
“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.
“He’d done awesome, really, to get back to playing and competing again at this level after all of the issues he had”, Murray said. The Briton saved two break points for a 6-5 lead.
He would have been the lowest-ranked man to be an Olympic tennis gold medalist and this would have been his first title at any tournament since January 2014.
In 1920, Japan won its only previous Olympic tennis medals, a pair of silvers.
It was an all-American affair in the mixed doubles, as Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock.
“I’m excited that we had chances and put ourselves in a position to win that match and you can’t ask for more”, said Williams.
Del Potro’s silver medal signifies his continued return to form, with his past three seasons disrupted by a wrist injury.
“Well, to defend the singles title”.
Hingis, 35, and playing her first Olympics since her debut in Atlanta in 1996, saw her gold medal hopes shattered in the women’s doubles final.
“If you asked me 10 years ago if I would be here in Rio, I would say you’re insane”, said Hingis.
Earlier, Japan’s Kei Nishikori claimed his first Olympic medal by beating Spain’s 14-time Grand Slam victor Nadal for men’s singles bronze.
But the Argentine not only eliminated Serbia’s world No.1 but also accounted for 2008 Beijing gold medalist Rafael Nadal in the semifinals too.
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The 27-year-old, a 2009 US Open champion and bronze medallist at London 2012, beat world number one Novak Djokovic in the first round, after being stuck in a lift for 40 minutes, and defeated 2008 Olympic gold victor Rafael Nadal in an epic three-hour semi-final.
