Andy Murray will open the defence of his Olympic singles title against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in Rio on Sunday.
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“I felt very proud and humbled, and said it would be a big honour to do it”, he said of his reaction to being asked to lead the British delegation into the Maracana Stadium.
“That’s unfortunate and some people obviously had different concerns about coming here, some of them to do with Zika”.
“Chris is a big boy and I’m not quite as strong as him but I’ll give it a go, if that’s what he says”, said Murray. “I’ll try to do it that way as it looks a bit better. It would mean the world to me to crown my career with gold, it would rank as one of the highest achievements of my career”, he said. Hopefully I don’t get too many mosquito bites, I don’t think it is too bad at this time of year.
He revealed: “I feel very proud and humble, because I genuinely wasn’t expecting it, and it’s a big responsibility”.
“Last night didn’t go so well but I can see the amusing side of it now and I’ll try to get a bit of practice in before tomorrow night”.
Murray has described being chosen to carry the Great Britain flag at the opening ceremony in Rio as the proudest moment of his career.
Murray and world number one Novak Djokovic are considered to be the favourites to win gold in Rio, with their paths to a potential final showdown being cleared after the withdrawal of Wawrinka and Federer due to their respective injuries.
World number one Djokovic said Russian Federation was a global power in worldwide sport but the scandal had been damaging for all involved.
“I am sure we will put on a great show”.
There were gasps at the draw in the Olympic Tennis Centre when World No.1 Djokovic was paired with former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.
“I am 100 per cent focused on winning here in Rio”.
Murray learned from his first Olympic experience in Beijing in 2008, when he embraced the occasion enthusiastically but flopped in the tournament.
The Scot, who will also partner his brother Jamie in the men’s doubles in Rio, was instrumental in leading Britain to the Davis Cup title in Belgium past year – the country’s first triumph in the team event since 1936.
“I’ve watched so many of his matches on TV, he’s had a lot of epic ones”.
Although pro athletes withdrew from these Olympic Games over the past few months for a wide variety of reasons, the two-time Wimbledon champ and defending Olympic gold medalist held firm to his commitment.
“Winning a medal is extremely hard but to do it with your brother it would be very, very, special”, Murray said.
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The tennis competition also includes men’s, women’s and mixed doubles.
