Magic Murray goes for gold after qualifying for Olympic final
ANDY MURRAY will go for his second successive Olympic gold medal today after cruising through his semi-final against Kei Nishikori.
Murray, who had struggled at times in the earlier rounds, saw off his Japanese opponent 6-1, 6-4 to guarantee himself at least a silver medal.
The Scot roared with delight – and relief – after winning his match on centre court at the Olympic Tennis Centre, earning a standing ovation for his performance. He had ended up on his bottom in the second-to-last point after hitting a sensational backhand winner.
After his comfortable win, he delighted the crowd by autographing three tennis balls and hitting them high into the stands for three lucky spectators to take home as souvenirs.
Murray will go for gold without wife Kim or mother Judy watching from the sidelines. Kim is staying at home to look after their daughter Sophia, while Judy does not attend every event and has decided not to travel to Brazil.
Murray had suffered disappointment in the men’s doubles, losing in the first round with his brother Jamie, and in the mixed doubles, where he and Heather Watson lost in the quarter-finals.
With his focus now on just one medal, the Wimbledon champion seemed a rejuvenated player and looked in control throughout this semi-final.
Murray said being Team GB’s flag-bearer had made him even more determined to get a medal for himself and the team.
“I think when you’re competing for your country you do feel a bit of extra responsibility obviously,” he said.
“After carrying the flag out you don’t want to go out and bomb out in the first round and not play well, so I’m glad I managed to put myself in a position to win a medal, hopefully gold.” Murray would be the first player ever to retain an Olympic singles title, but said: “The goal is win gold, I’m not really thinking about any of the stuff that goes with that just now, it’s obviously a very difficult event, that’s why it’s not been done before, so I’ll fight as hard as I can and see what happens.” He said the last four months, including his Wimbledon win, the French Open final and now the Olympic final, had been the best of his career, “so I’ll try and keep that going now”. He said he did not know if he had won the point that set up match point, when he ended up on his backside, until the umpire announced the score. “I came up with a bit of a lucky shot up the line, I didn’t even see it bounce so I didn’t know if it was in or not. I was pumped [to win the point],” he said.