And even as a guy who’s won Wimbledon twice, along with the U.S. Open, not to mention a pair of Olympic medals, Murray called being Britain’s flag bearer “by far the proudest moment in my professional career”.
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The 29-year-old Scottish tennis star was teased by Princess Anne, who was nearly blocked out of the photographs as she stood beside him.
“I ended up putting the flag in front of Princess Anne’s face”.
He revealed: “I feel very proud and humble, because I genuinely wasn’t expecting it, and it’s a big responsibility”. “The flag’s huge. So as soon as I took the flag, I was covering someone’s face”.
“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”.
Djokovic told reporters he was looking forward to the “experience of a lifetime” at the Athletes’ Village in Rio’s west.
When Murray was asked about the Princess’s reaction, the tennis player replied that the Princess hoped Murray would not poke her eyes out.
As well as bearing the flag in tomorrow’s opening ceremony, Andy Murray will be competing in the men’s doubles and men’s singles at Rio.
He added “this is my third Olympic Games, and it is a very special competition for me”.
Murray, however, isn’t anxious at all – he said his doctor told him he’d be fine, and that his wife Kim wasn’t going to Brazil not because of Zika fears, but because she was never planning to in the first place. “The difference in emotions from Wimbledon to the Olympics made it the biggest win of my career, I think”.
But with a Sunday opening tie against Viktor Troicki in the singles, he will have more than enough time to march, and recover, before taking to the court.
In the doubles Andy and brother Jamie Murray will play Brazilian home favourites Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa in their opener.
World number two Murray discovered he was to be his country’s flag-bearer on Tuesday night as he was about to go to sleep at the athletes village.
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“We know each other so well; we have played so many matches together that not playing for a while with each other won’t be an issue for us”. “I obviously have great memories of London and I am 100 percent focused on winning here in Rio”, said Murray in a statement posted on the Team GB website.
