ANDY’S GOLDEN SHOT
Andy Murray will go for gold in today’s Olympic tennis final after another glory day for Team GB
Single-minded Andy Murray insists he won’t even contemplate the prospect of making history as he focuses solely on going for gold.
Having hammered fourth seed Kei Nishikori yesterday, should he now retain the title he won in London in 2012, he would become the first tennis player to win back to back singles Olympic gold medals.
In an era dominated by three all-time greats, to accomplish something never done by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic is a huge feather in the world No.2’s cap.
But that prospect won’t distract the Dunblane hero.
Murray said: “The goal is to just try and win a gold medal.
“I’m not really thinking about any of the stuff that goes with that. It’s obviously a difficult thing to do, hence why it’s not been done before.
“I’ll go out there, hopefully play a good match, fight as hard as I can, give it everything and see what happens.”
If Murray can find the same form he showed in his 6-1 6- 4 demolition of the Japanese, then he will be tough to beat.
The 29-year-old knew he needed to step things up after surviving tight, tense tussles against Fabio Fognini and Steve Johnson – and he did just that. Murray served superbly and dominated off the ground, with Nishikori failing to create a single break point. The Scot added: “I served well and had no lulls in the match.
“I made most of the games really tough for him. Even the ones I lost he was having to work hard for.
“We both had long matches yesterday. His singles was physically probably tougher than my mixed doubles. But I knew if I could get off to a good start, and make it physically tough for him after that, then it would be hard – and that’s what happened.”
The one big disappointment was the crowd, with the stadium half full at best by the end and significantly less than that for much of it. But they were all on their feet at the end of the remarkable penultimate point, which ended with Murray on his backside with arm aloft after somehow conjuring a winning passing shot.
He said: “I just came up with a bit of a lucky shot down the line. I didn’t even see it bounce so I didn’t know whether it was in or not. Thankfully it was good.
“I was obviously pumped because if he turns that around and potentially breaks it’s a totally different match. It was a huge point.”
Murray heads into the Olympic final in imperious form. Victory over Nishikori extended his career- best winning streak to 17 matches.
He has now won 28 of his last 29, winning titles in Rome, at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon and reaching the final of the French Open. And Murray is
pleased to have ensured he will now contribute to the medals table.
He can at worst leave Rio with silver, adding to the singles gold and mixed doubles silver he won in London.
The Scot said: “The last four months definitely have been the best period of my career. My job is to try to keep that going now and keep up the consistency I’ve had.
“I’ve not played my best tennis this week but found a way to win. Often in events you have matches where if you can get through you start to find your form and feel better.
“When you’re competing for your country you do feel a bit of extra responsibility. After carrying the flag I didn’t want to bomb out in the first round and not play well.
“So to win gold would cap off a special 10 days for me.”
When you’re competing for your country you do feel extra responsibility. I didn’t want to bomb out in the first round and not play well