The Scot won 6-1 6-4 and will play Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s gold-medal match (19:00 BST) after the Argentine beat Spain’s Rafael Nadal. “Maybe even better”, said del Potro, who’s fallen to 141st in the rankings after three operations on his left wrist, which he uses for a two-handed backhand.
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“It would mean a lot, obviously”, Murray said after beating fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-1, 6-4.
Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam champion, earned the singles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, and added a doubles gold Friday night, teaming with his good pal Marc Lopez.
The three-time grand slam victor will go up against Juan Martin del Potro in the final. “After two and a half months without playing, I was able to compete against some of the best players in the world”, said the 14-time major victor.
“I didn t expect to get to the final; I didn t expect to beat Djokovic. It’s just wonderful for me”. In the next game, del Potro held three break points at love-40, but Nadal held for a 6-5 lead. Nadal manages to save set point once, but fails to do so for a second consecutive time, allowing Del Potro to tie the match after a forty-seven minute second set.
It has been a tough road back for del Potro, who got down on his back, spread-eagle, near the Olympic logo after the riveting semifinal ended with Nadal sailing a forehand wide.
“I am satisfied. I did my best”. In the end with the tiebreak I played so aggressive with my forehand, looking for the winners and I did great at the end. He had not beaten the Spaniard on a hard court for five years.
The beginning of their semifinal match seemed to lean towards that trend, as Nadal takes the first two games of the match opener.
Nadal, who missed his Olympic title defence through injury in 2012, levelled at 4-4 before carving out the key break in the 12th game to grab the set. In the third game, del Potro was finally able to take advantage of Nadal’s second serve.
The 1.98m (6ft 6ins) Argentine survived a break point in a 10-minute second game of the decider which set the tone for the dramatic conclusion.
The 27-year-old Del Potro, who has undergone numerous wrist surgeries in recent years, played in only one of the last 10 Grand Slam tournaments and is now ranked No. 141, struck first blood at the Olympic Tennis Center but then appeared to be in trouble when he squandered an early service break and went down a set to the Spanish great.
“It would mean a lot to me. It s not easy, that s why it s never been done before, but I will go out there and give it my best”, said the 29-year-old world number two.
“I’m going to give my best effort and I’m happy I’m guaranteed the medal, but the goal is obviously the gold”. That stretched his win streak to a career high-tying 17 matches.
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That gave Murray his third match point, which he converted with a service victor.
