“It’s obviously very sad and disappointing to go out in a tournament this early but on the other hand I am glad a good friend of mine and someone who has struggled a lot in the last couple of years is back and plays at this level”. But at his first Grand appearance Slam in more than two years, the Argentine upset fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon last month.
Advertisement
Juan Martin del Potro cries while hugging Novak Djokovic. He also failed to medal in 2012 after reaching the semifinals and losing in the bronze medal match to, you guessed it, del Potro.
Djokovic was trying to become just the third man to complete the career Golden Slam of all four majors plus Olympic gold.
With the opening set in his grasp, Murray comfortably moved into a 1-0 lead after bringing up set point with a victor that kissed the top of the net chord.
The Murray brothers, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray’s doubles team with his brother Jamie, also went out 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (16-14) against Brazilians Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa.
The day had started badly for Del Potro.
The Murray brothers saved six match points and played some incredible tennis themselves in an fantastic second set tie-break, but the Brazilians would not be denied.
Del Potro hit 41 winners on Sunday, 29 on his forehand.
Del Potro’s Sunday did not start off so auspiciously – he was stuck in an elevator at the Olympic Village for 40 minutes before Argentine handball players freed him.
For Serena, it was a first ever loss in Olympic doubles. Remember, his best finish at the Olympics was a bronze medal in Beijing.
He was not, Nadal insisted after a 6-2 6-1 victory over Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, back at full strength, however.
The world number one said: “It was a really tough match for us, a really tough draw, but we’re used to tough draws. But Olympic Games, yeah, it’s completely different”.
Williams, sporting a patriotic Stars and Stripes hair band on centre court, will face either Sweden’s Johanna Larsson or Alize Cornet of France.
However, the Williams sisters and Murray brothers bowed out of the respective women’s and men’s doubles competitions – the former losing their ideal Olympic record in the process. They were beaten 6-3, 6-4 by the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.
The first game of the first set gave an indication of the type of match it would be.
Advertisement
The shock result means the top two seeds in both doubles competitions have already been eliminated, with top seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues-Herbert of France having lost to Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
