I went for a 6-4 opening set to Murray, but he ended up recording that score in set two instead, as he cruised past a worn out Nishikori 6-1 in the first set.
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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. After losing I have to play one more match for the medal.
The Argentine’s forehand is pretty much as good as ever, but the backhand is hit and miss, with a lot more slice used these days, and I think this is a tall order for Delpo against what should be a pretty fresh Murray.
Saturday’s victory allowed Murray to extend his mastery over Nishikori to 7-1 and stretch his current winning streak to a career-best 17 matches.
But the Briton’s routine win wasn’t without incident.
Murray, who won silver with Laura Robson in 2012, and Watson only found out they had made it into the competition 45 minutes before their opening match on Thursday when Romanians Florin Mergea and Monica Niculescu pulled out.
“I am living – like a dream”, said Del Potro. “If you want to be the star, then fine”. In the very next game, Murray failed to convert three break points, and that was basically his last chance in that set.
Like in the Fognini match, Murray raced through the first set, this time not even dropping a game, but the momentum switched at the start of the second set when Johnson broke serve.
Nishikori, who had only beaten Murray once in seven previous encounters, struggled to impose himself in the face of ferocious pressure from the British world No. 2, failing to earn a single break point all match.
“Now I have to recover for Sunday”.
“I’m expecting a tough match”.
But he has looked sharp and confident and is still fighting for a medal on three fronts, having reached the final of the men’s doubles with Marc Lopez as well as entering the mixed doubles alongside Garbine Muguruza.
Juan Martin del Potro has now knocked off Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in these Olympics.
The 30-year-old Spaniard added the 2016 doubles crown to his 2008 singles gold in Beijing by defeating Romania’s Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau 6-2, 3-6, 4-6.
Prior to the Games, Nadal was sidelined with a wrist injury that forced him to sit out Wimbledon this year. If he wins the tennis Rio 2016 gold, he would become the first player in Olympic history to win back-to-back in the singles category.
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Early on, del Potro ended a mesmerizing, 34-stroke point by pounding a forehand victor, then slowly strolled, chest heaving, and waved his racket to ask the fans for more noise, perhaps hoping to delay things a bit.
