Final Match Tennis Quel Emulateur
What a scrap we witnessed at the Olympic Tennis Stadium on Sunday night.The players’ sheer desire has surely squashed any doubts over tennis’s rightful place at these Games, and Andy Murray hasn’t just hit the ball better than anyone else over the past week - he has also showed the intensity of his passion.Murray outlasted Juan Martin del Potro in a 4hr 2min dogfight; a match so physical that it could have been staged alongside the judo and the taekwondo in the Carioca Arena. Admittedly, he probably had fewer miles in his legs coming in, having made short work of Kei Nishikori on Saturday while Del Potro contested another epic against Rafael Nadal. But then Murray had played three doubles matches as well.
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He needed every ounce of his innate stubbornness to come through by a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 margin. It was a scrappy match but an utterly compelling one. At times you wondered who would stagger over the line first, because Murray never quite had his full kitbag of shots working cleanly. In the first set, his serve was as notable an absentee as Pele at the torch-lighting ceremony. Even when he managed to locate it, for periods of the second set, he promptly lost power in his legs instead.
Closing out a title had never seemed so agonising.“Tonight's one of the hardest matches I've had to play for a big title,” said Murray afterwards. “The US Open final when I played Novak and won my first slam was very hard, but tonight I found it really difficult. Emotionally it was tough, physically it was hard.
There were so many ups and downs in the match.”If Max Whitlock could win two gold medals in a couple of hours at the gymnastics, Murray somehow felt short-changed with only one. Not even the marathon runners have to work hours like this. The match was only around 30 minutes old when Del Potro started puffing hard, and going on little walkabouts between points. But each time he bolted down an energy gel at a changeover, he found another burst of inspiration.
Meanwhile, the match was turning into a battle of brains as well as stamina as Murray tried to avoid Del Potro’s earth-shaking forehand – which stands unrivalled as the most powerful groundstroke in the game – and locate his less lethal backhand instead.At one stage in the fourth set we entered a parallel universe where Del Potro was dinking the ball back with backspin off both wings as Murray moved him around with chess-like slices of his own. It was another example of Murray’s MacGyver-like ability to find solutions on the hoof, which has dug him out of so many awkward spots in the past.The Olympic Tennis Stadium should have been renamed the Sweatbox, so badly were both players struggling in the humid conditions. But this was one of the best atmospheres, and most committed crowds, of the whole Games.Murray has never been an honorary Brazilian before. But by playing an Argentine in the Olympic final he collected some of the most passionate support that he can ever have experienced overseas. A nearly-full stadium created a derby-day atmosphere, complete with scores of flags. Four points before the end, one over-zealous Argentine supporter in a blue-and-white jester’s hat had to be escorted out of the arena by soldiers, prompting pantomime booing as he held his arms up in mock triumph.
Final Match Tennis Quel Emulateur 3
That fourth set was mind-boggling. There were seven breaks of serve in the 12 games and one extraordinary statement point from Murray which saw both men cover all 2,800 square feet before he finally came up with a winning pass, leaving Del Potro bent double over the net.
You could tell, at that moment, that he was fully locked onto his target.After the match had ended via a netted backhand from Del Potro – probably the most common conclusion to these 269 breathless rallies – both men met at the net in a damp and emotional embrace. Murray then took to his chair and heaved huge sobs into his towel, while del Potro did not bother to hide his tears, his face by now turning puce with exhaustion and emotion.Even amid the all-round mastery of Team GB, Murray stands out from the Stella McCartney-clad crowd. This is a man who has already peaked at least three times in 2016, reaching the finals of each of the grand slams and lifting the Wimbledon crown. But he was desperate to deliver for the team, particularly after his central role at the opening ceremony.“Getting to carry the flag was an amazing experience,” he reiterated last night. “It's a great honour to get the opportunity to do that.
I found that quite emotional. After the day I did it, I sort of had to regroup and get my mind on the matches. A match like that tonight as well, the build-up the last 10 days or so, it's been very emotional. I'm just very happy to have got over the line. I'm so tired.”Would he be showing the film to his daughter Sophia – who is still only six months old – in the future? He smiled. “I don't know to be honest.
When she's old enough I'll try to tell what I've done in my job, if you can call it that. I'm sure there'll be some videos somewhere so I can show her some of the matches – if she's interested. Maybe she won't be. A lot of the tennis players that I've spoken to have children, and they're more interested in the other players than in their fathers.”. Murray has just made history, again, by becoming the first singles player to claim two golds, and the debate will surely start again over his place in the pantheon of British sport.“The fact it hasn't been done before shows that it's very hard,” said Murray, “so I'm very proud to have been the first one.
It hasn't been easy because a lot can happen in four years. I had back surgery since London, my ranking dropped a lot during that period, and I've gone through some tough times on the court as well. Happily I'm still here to compete at the biggest event. I'll try to keep going.
Who knows about Tokyo? If I'm still playing in four years when I'm 33. I don't imagine I'll be playing the same level as now, but I'll enjoy tonight's win.”Murray has grown up in an age of giants, and now that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have started to fray physically, he is beginning to impose himself on the tour as never before. His win yesterday was his 18 th on the bounce, a new personal best by some margin, and a better run than even the super-consistent Djokovic has managed this season.It was horribly gruelling, though, in a manner that made you wonder about the wisdom of playing a best-of-five final at the back end of a week-long event. The rest day that should have preceded the final was wiped out by all the sessions that were lost to rain. Goodness knows how – or indeed if - Murray will pick himself up in time for next week’s Masters event in Cincinnati.“Yes, this means a lot,” he said.
“But I won't get to enjoy it as much, as I've got to play another match in 48 hours, unfortunately.”. Here we go.And despite the fatigue, despite the cramp, and despite the late stage of this match - Del Porto still possesses a formidable power. He brutalises Murray at the back of the court and wins the point when his ailing opponent tamely dollies one into the net. 15-0.Now it's Murray's time to demonstrate his endurance.
He charges into the net to put Del Potro under pressure, reaches the attempted passing shot, and somehow fashions a winner. 15-all.Murray really fancies the next return, which drops a little short from Del Potro, but he's too eager to make his opponent pay and slams it wide. But then Del Potro makes a mistake of his own, stumbling a wee bit and sending his sliced return too low, which levels things up. Blimey, the next point is unfortunate. Murray is all over Del Potro and has him where he wants him floundering at the back of the court.
At the opportune moment, he executes the drop shot, but as he goes to play it somebody in the crowd yells out. Murray trips and blows it, before glaring angrily into the distance. But Del Po tiredly hits his next shot long, and we're at deuce!And now an Argentinian fan has been told to get up and leave! It's all kicking off out there, I think it's the fan who yelled out moments before. He's wearing an Argentinian shirt and is given an enthusiastic send off by his compatriots.We eventually resume, only for Del Potro to smash a forehand beyond the baseline! A gold medal point for Murray, can he convert? His forehand return is absolutely garbage, and it plops harmlessly into the net.Deuce then.
But not for long, this time Murray absolutely creams his return and it's Del Potro's turn to tiredly hit into the net.A second tournament point for Murray. His return is good, and he quickly seizes the initiative in the rally. Del Potro is at the back of the court and floundering, and his sliced return is too flat, he's netted it!Andy Murray has won! He is the Olympic champion! Murray with a lot of work to do then, 0-30 and clinging on. He bravely charges the net on the next point, and easily reaches Del Potro's attempted lob, smashing it back past the reach of his rival.
He tries it again on the next point but this time it goes horribly wrong, and he leaves acres of space for Del Potro to fire a passing shot down. Two break points for Del Po!He spurns the first with an ungainly blast into the net. And Murray defends the second with his ninth ace. And then another wins him the advantage! The pressure is on, but he gets the better of Del Po in the rally, forcing him out wide and then pumping the air with a newfound energy when his opponent fails to clear the net. Superb defence from Murray. Del Potro had him scrambling around all over the back of the court, and he twice nearly lost his balance prior to Del Potro snatching at a forehand and pushing his shot wide.
Really great work from the Scot. Del Potro then misreads a Murray backhand and slashes the ball into the net, although he eventually - eventually - wins the next point, smashing a winner past Murray at the net.But Del Potro is clearly tired, and Murray wins two break back points thanks to a thumping backhand down the line which Del Po just doesn't have the legs to chase. He defends the first though, with a brilliant drop shot that Murray doesn't attempt to bother chasing down.
Now it's the Scot's turn to look shattered. Murray throws away the second, sloppily clipping the net with a an attempted forehand pass. He has a word with himself, several words with himself, and subsequently gets the better of Del Potro in an absolutely colossal rally, which is easily the point of the match. First Murray is in control, hitting deep forehand after deep forehand and keeping Del Potro pinned to the back of the court, before a change of pace suddenly puts the Argentinian in control, and he unloads several forehands in an attempt to pummel Murray into submission. But Murray digs deep, returns everything thrown his way, and eventually Del Po decides he has to come in close to finish Murray off.
The tactic backfires, as Murray picks his shot and launches a vicious backhand pass down the line. An Argentinian football crowd to be precise, Del Potro's fans are roaring every single successful point.But they can only yell in frustration as Murray wins the first two points of this match, with a well-placed drop shot and then with an error, as Del Potro comes down too heavily on a forehand which skips beyond the baseline.
0-30 (AGAIN). But Murray nets his return to give Del Potro hope of holding.And then Murray hits his next return long! A bizarre shot to have played all things considering, needlessly aggressive, and the error rattles him. He buries his next return into the net, and Del Potro holds with a drop volley at the net. Del Potro hit some unplayable shots in that previous game, and there was no returning his forehand in the first point of this game, either, which roars past Murray and down the line. Fortunately the Scot responds with something special of his own, another cute drop shot which Del Potro is in absolutely no mood to chase down.Murray hits the next point long, though (and wastes a challenge to boot) and hits his next forehand far too early, belting it into the net.
Two break points for Del Potro, and he breaks once again when Murray gets far too little on his lob.Out of nowhere, Del Potro has broken! Slip from Del Potro! Murray takes the opportunity to change the pace of the attack and the Argentinian responds by blotting the ball wide. Textbook stuff from Murray there.
The Scot then comes forward on Del Potro's second serve and aggressively belts the ball straight back into his body, and Del Potro can't get it back over the net. 0-30 is becoming a recurring theme of this match.Can Murray now seize control? Possibly, his wonderfully flat sliced return has Del Potro floundering, and he shoots long. Antares autotune torrent windows.
Final Match Tennis Quel Emulateur Streaming
Even more worrying for Argentinian fans is the reaction of their man to the lost point - he immediately went to his leg as if he was cramping. He's still moving relatively well, but is grimacing.
Not again, surely?! Del Potro races into a 0-30 lead having not really done that much at all. But this time Murray races into action, and he levels things with a flat two-handed backhand which lands plum on the baseline.So imagine everybody's surprise when Murray double-faults, his second of the game, and just as he looks to be getting himself in control in this set. It hands Del Po a break point, and the Argentinian grabs at it with both hands. Murray attempts the drop shot which Del Potro just about scrapes up over the net.
Now it's Murray on the charge, and he does brilliantly to reach the ball, only for his rival to volley it back over his head to win the point.Del Potro has broken back! Del Potro is having some problems of his own, though, and two cheap errors followed by a smart passing shot from Murray means he finds himself defending a break point. Defend it he does, though, with Murray swinging for a big forehand which he crunches wide. But he wins a second break point immediately, with a powerful backhand which Del Potro can only volley into the net.And then brilliance! Again Murray is in control of the rally, but this time he wins the point with a superbly subtle drop shot. Perfectly weighted, the ball has already bounced twice before Del Po gets anywhere near it. Just a reminder that this is a five-setter.
No bedtime for you lot just yet.Del Po is definitely struggling at the moment, though, and he floats a couple of forehands long under little pressure, to go 0-30 down. Make that 0-40: he's slow to react to a Murray cross-court backhand and hits his shot into the very side of the net.Three break points, then, and Del Po doesn't have to work too hard to defend the first, which Murray casually shanks wide. But the next shot from Murray is BRILLIANT, as he thumps the return back at Del Po with interest. The Argentinian doesn't have the reflexes to return it.Murray wins the third set 6-2. Brilliant chance for Murray this, and again he charges into the net to keep Del Po under pressure. Again it works: this time the ball is haphazardly belted into the net. Del Potro, rattled, hits his next shot long, and he's definitely struggling at the moment.
Murray can sense it, and he's swinging that little bit freer, shouting that little bit louder. He knows that his opponent is on the ropes.And the next point is a thing of beauty from the Scotsman! Del Potro goes for the drop shot but Murray is all over it, and he springs forward with supreme athleticism before winning it with the backhand pass. Unusual: A Del Potro double fault.VERY unusual: A double Del Potro double fault!But the Argentinian recovers with a decent serve out wide, which Murray promptly belts into the net. Murray is furious, and screams out a series of naughty words which I could possibly lose my job if I typed here.
F words and s words and all sorts of filth. Naughty!And then, quite possibly, the shot of the match! Murray chasing down a Del Potro forehand down the line and hitting a stunning shot of his own, across court which leaves Del Potro floundering. It gives him a break point, which Del Po promptly saves, and we're at deuce.Murray ups the ante on the next point, sprinting towards the net after hitting a sliced backhand return, and the tactic pays dividends.
Del Potro is harried and arches his backhand wide. Del Potro hits the next one long, and Murray has broken! This from John McEnerney:Del Po laying down the marker for the US Open. Big way of saying 'I'm back'.
The big dogs had better watch out & the young pups too: Del Po is right back in the mix of men's tennis. Still have Murray in 4!I'm loving this but I may have to call it a night soon as my 1 year old twin boys don't get it at all that daddy needs his fix of sports drama.
They were acting the maggots during Wimbeldon & The Open. They've been warned the Ryder Cup is off limits. This is savage stuff from both the players. Del Po must be running on fumes at this stage after the 2nd set.
Great stuff this! Enjoy it pal.Stay with us John, this promises to be a classic! And Del Potro immediately smacks one into the net as he looks to pulverize a short Murray return. Silly lad.Lord only knows how he won the next point, though. At one point in the rally he's practically on the floor as he picks up a low Murray slice, you can actually hear the clatter of his racquet on the court, but Murray cedes the advantage by dumping an ugly forehand into the net. Then he belts one long.
30-15, immediately 40-15 when Murray repeats the error on the next point.Del Po is still to miss a first serve in this set. With two game points, he charges in after his serve in an attempt to force the Murray error, and it quickly comes.
His attempted passing shot down the line goes long. Brilliant from Murray. At 15-all, he gets one of these drop shots right. Del Potro does very well to reach it and prod it back over, but Murray steps forward and it's an easy winner down the line.
He wins the next point with a smash shot at the net, again Del Potro doing well to keep himself in the rally but ultimately not threatening.A big ace from Murray wins it. And an even bigger puff of the cheeks from Del Potro, who looks tired. But is it all a game? The Argentinian is still playing very, very well. This from long-time Telegraph Sport fan Robin Michael Thompson:I live in Brazil, could not get tickets for this, all reserved for tourists.Plus transport would have been a nightmare, I live over 100km away, a short distance in a huge country, but a huge distance for travel. Cannot watch game here without paying special match price to Sky.I may live in Brazil, but I have not seen anything of the games. Who wants to be in Brazil anyway, with all of that lovely hot weather and the Olympics right on your doorstep and all those endless sandy beaches and stuff.
Brilliant defense from Murray. Del Potro utterly in control of the rally, but Murray - scampering around at the back of the court - utterly refuses to be beaten and keeps the backhand slice returns coming until Del Potro eventually misreads one. However even Murray is unable to return the forehand that Del Potro summons up on the next point.
It's a huge shot, which Murray does well to get his racquet on, in fairness. He buries it into the net.Del Potro wins the next couple of points, and is close to taking the set until he misreads a Murray backhand. It's the change of pace that does him, and he drills his forehand out of play. Little matter, he quickly finishes things off with yet another big cross-court shot.Del Potro wins the second set 6-4. Murray is in big trouble here. Del Potro is swinging freely for the lines and just about everything he is attempting is coming off at the moment. He quickly races into a 0-30 lead, and looks as though he's going to move 0-40 up until he finally makes a mistake, hitting a forehand marginally long.And then he does it again, Del Potro is playing so well at the moment that he's swinging for absolutely everything and, for the second time in a row, he misses the baseline by inches.A chance now for Murray to hold under pressure.
Ah, maybe not. Rattled, he dumps a forehand into the net to hand his rival a set point.
He then tries to catch his rival out with a really rank drop shot, telegraph from a mile off and bouncing up at a decent height for Del Potro, but some superb reactionary tennis at the net digs Murray out of trouble. He's on the backfoot on the next point, too, but digs deep and keeps himself in the rally, and eventually Del Potro drills one of those huge forehands into the net. Del Potro wins the first point of this game only to hit a backhand too early when in control of the next one. It careers into the net, and that's a big let off for Murray, who was scrambling about beyond the baseline. He's in a similar position on the next point, only this time he's the one to make the error, shooting long.Bravely, Murray tries to grab the initiative on the next point, striding forward and hitting the ball as flat as possible.
Too flat: net. Similar story on the next point. Del Potro holds. Better from Murray, who loses the first point but then wins the next four with the minimum of fuss to hold his serve. The highlight? A beautiful counter-attacking forehand down the line, after Del Potro had boldly strode forward in an attempt to force an error.What a superb start to the match this has been.
Del Potro is playing the better tennis, but you have to wonder if he's going to be able to maintain this high standard. Murray has experienced a lot of joy peppering him with shallow drop shots, and you would expect Del Potro to fatigue further as the match progresses. He's already puffing his cheeks out rather heavily. But he'll take heart from Murray's lack of rhythm, especially his backhand, which is faltering despite usually being his strongest shot. Two Del Potro forehands, two winners.
He's 30-0 up in a matter of moments. But Murray pegs him back with a vicious slice which spins from left-to-right and utterly befuddles Del Po.
He groans loudly as he attempts to pick it up off the ground, but fails. It's a superb shot and lifts Murray slightly, and he wins the next point with a similar shot. This time Del Potro does hack it back over the net, but he does so with plently of loft, and Murray is able to smash it past him to win the point.And then a break point for Murray! But Del Potro is able to defend it, with Murray making the wrong decision to play the body shot.
His opponent read it and, advancing forward, punched a winner well out of the Scot's reach. Murray isn't deterred, though, winning the point with a lob so beautifully disguised that even Inspector Clouseau wouldn't have been able to spot it coming.
But Del Po's forehand gets him out of trouble. Only momentarily, though, with yet another sliced Murray drop shot causing his opponent problems. He's really taking advantage of Del Potro's comparative immobility here. This time, it's Del Potro's first serve that gets him out of trouble with Murray unable to fashion a return. Deuce, again.Del Potro escapes, first winning the advantage with a crushing forehand. Murray goes on the aggressive on the next point, trying to punish his second serve, but succeeds only in ripping the ball into the net. A real ding-dong of a game this one, with both men exchanging some brilliant shots (okay I went to get a drink and missed the start) as Del Potro takes Murray to deuce.Del Potro then wins a massive rally to grab himself the advantage, Murray chasing down his shot down the line and trying to slam it back across the Argentinian, but not quite getting enough on the attempt, which drops into the net.
Murray levels things in incredible fashion though. From the baseline, he goes for the drop shot hit with plenty of backspin, which Del Potro reaches but completely misses, such is the spin Murray applies to the ball.The Argentinian soon has another chance to break though, with Murray belting one long. And then he breaks! Murray comes in, which is a dumb decision, as the Argentinian has plenty of time to rock back on his heels and pick his passing shot. It's a big backhand down the line. Murray broken early.
Time for an email! This from John McEnerney:Hi Luke, just waiting for what I call the MMMM(Murray'sMidMatchMeltdown) when Murray starts screaming at himself & his team after he loses a few games which he's done here. The Olympic values must be keeping it in check. Going to go the distance this one. After his epic win over Rafa I'd say Del Po has very little left in the tank but he's a fighter & will take a set. Top coverage man.
John.A mid match meltdown? Pretty sure it started in the fifth game of the first! Let's hope he can keep that notorious temper under check. Good start from JMDP (is that a thing?
Getting sick of typing 'Del Potro') as he steps forward and belts a cross-court shot out of the reach of a scrambling Murray, but he's made to look very pedestrian on the next two shots, as Murray beats him with a drop shot, and then a gorgeous passing shot, hit with plenty of top-spin.And then Murray finds himself with two set points when Del Potro snatches at a forehand and belts it high and wide! Can't say he really deserves them but, hell, what does that matter? Del Potro goes big with the first serve, slams it into the net. But goes equally big with the second serve, too. Wise too, as Murray had stepped in to receive it and stood absolutely no chance of hacking that back over the net.
40-30.And he does it! It's a superb baseline rally, with Del Potro initially in control, but Murray's backhand down the line is both powerful and precise, and his rival doesn't stand a chance.Murray wins the first set 7-5. Murray is still struggling to find his rhythm though, and a number of errors are coming off his backhand, usually one of the best on Tour.
Another drops into the net to give Del Potro a sniff of a break. And the Argentinian is getting better and better, reading Murray's backhand pass before advancing to the net himself and winning the point with a drop volley. Deuce.Big mistake from Del Potro on the next point, floating one long under little pressure to the vocal delight of Murray. It's a gimme, and sets Murray up to win the game, as Del Potro proceeds to mis-hit one into the crowd (again). 6-5.Ant and Dec are LOVING IT. Murray's head as gone a wee bit here. The switch has been flicked.
He double faults, his second of the match, before losing a long, extended rally which he was initially in complete control of. Del Potro hits a winner, and the crowd go completely wild, as Murray angrily remonstrates with himself. He's in danger of throwing his first set away.He pulls it back on the next point though, with a wonderful shot down the line which flashes past Del Po. And then some controversy! The chair umpire initially looked to have called that out, only to seemingly reverse his decision.
Del Potro isn't happy, signals to challenge, and is then told he didn't challenge quickly enough. The Argentinian is furious, and is clearly still fuming as he's beaten by a cross-court forehand a moment later.
30-all, which turns into 40-30 when Del Potro is forced wide, with his return failing to clear the net. ICYMI: Del Potro's forehand is SO good. It's such a wonderful, swishy motion, almost as if he's scything wheat. When he gets it right it's one of the very best in the game, and it has Murray floundering like a junior on the first point of this game. The Argentinian rattles through the next couple of points, hitting his second ace of the match, but his progress is held up when he belts one into the net. 40-15.Little matter, Murray makes an error on the next point and we're back on serve. It's all to play for.
Come on then Juan Martin, show us what you've got. He starts this game in much better fashion, quickly taking a 30-0 lead and keeping Murray on the back foot with his powerful groundstrokes. Murray does exceptionally well to return his third serve only for the Argentinian to smash the ball out of his reach, but Murray prevents him holding to love with a difficult sliced backhand which lands at his opponent's feet. He really struggles to get down to reach it, and can only scrape the ball into the net.The crowd are then off their feet on the next point. Murray, still peppering Del Potro with those difficult, shallow little shots, before he kills his rival with the lob. Eventually though, Del Potro has enough, going big with the serve prior to rifling a vicious cross-court forehand out of Murray's reach. Those three games took 27-minutes.
Bunker down, ladies and gents, this is going to be an epic.Or maybe not. Two brilliant shots from Murray, a cross-court forehand hit with plenty of top spin and a forehand down the line which Del Potro shanks out of play, put him 0-30 up.
And he then wins three break points! His rival, flustered, hits long under little pressure. The nerves are clearly jangling.Del Potro responds by trying to absolutely brutalise the ball, crunching everything that comes his way on the next point, but it's a risky game to play and the tactic backfires. Desperate to put Murray on the backfoot, he eventually belts one long.
Murray watches it fall beyond the baseline, and screams in delight. He's broken Del Potro for the second game in succession. Del Potro wins the first point, and the second, too. Murray goes for the drop shot, Del Potro sprints forward and flicks it back, Murray taps it down and Del Potro spins forward to scrape it over again. He's unlucky not to go 0-40 up, actually, as on the next point Murray comes into the net too early.
He does very well to angle his drop volley return beyond the Argentinian, and wins the point. 15-30.He doesn't get as lucky on the next point though, as his lob shot over an advancing Del Potro flies wide by mere millimeters. Suddenly, the Argentinian has two break points.Murray saves the first brilliantly. The men exchange crushing forehands from the baseline, with both men clipping the tape during an entertaining rally, before Murray blasts one down the line which the Argentinian is simply unable to reach. But he can't repeat the feat on the next point.
Murray snatches at a forehand, sticks it into the middle of the net, and Del Potro equally breaks back. This is one of the noisiest tennis matches I can remember! The Argentinian fans keep having their chants drowned out by the Brazilian fans in panto fashion, which is promoting a lot of jeering and cat-calling. Both men look a bit bemused.DelPo looks even more bemused a few minutes later, when he completely mistimes a routine forehand. The ball pings off what looks like the handle of his racket, sailing over Murray's head and into the crowd. At Wimbledon it would produce polite titters.
Here it produces a loud 'WEY-EHHHHHH!' DelPo then hits his forehand too early on the next point, slamming the ball into the net to give Murray a 0-30 lead. But he's back in control on the next point, ragging Murray from one side of the court to the next before running into the court when Murray lofts one up. He crushes the volley and has a point back.
We're then treated to a sumptuous rally - Lord knows how many shots it lasted, but it was over 25 I'm sure - and Murray is the man in control until DelPo's well-hit sliced backhand mixes the pace of things up. It puts Murray on the backfoot, and he eventually hits one into the net.
The Argentinian is level but puffs his cheeks out upon the conclusion of the point, that took it out of him. Murray will be the happier of the pair if all of their points begin to resemble that.The next point is almost as long but Murray is in control from the outset, repeatedly slowing things down with his sliced backhand return before ripping one down the line that sends his opponent sprawling. But DelPo's forehand - come on, you know the one - gets him out of trouble.
He pulls Murray one way before pushing him the other, and Murray is beaten by a rapid punch into the corner. He hits the next point long to give the Argentinian the advantage, but it's back to deuce moments later when Del Potro's backhand goes long.An error from Murray wins him his advantage back, but then we're back to deuce again when DelPo loses his concentration, and smashes a forehand wide and long. He responds with his fastest serve of the match as well as the first ace, but he just cannot finish this off. On his advantage, a big serve has Murray scrambling and the DelPo comes into the net to finish it, only to snatch at the shot which flies into the net. Back to deuce we go.
Another long rally with Murray in complete control, as he uses the sliced backhand to keep the ball very low, making life difficult for the exceptionally tall Argentinian. DelPotro hits into the net; break point. But it's saved when Murray tees up that big Del Potro forehand, and he gratefully gobbles up a quarter-length return, smashing the shot out of his opponent's reach. He's then back on advantage when Murray hits long. Is this ever going to end?Not for the time being, nope! Murray comes forward on the next point and hits a smart drop shot, but Del Potro reaches it and hits a backhand down the line. It looks to be a winner and Murray is beaten, but the ball falls inches behind the baseline.
There's then another long rally, which ends with Del Potro getting his legs in a right old muddle, and shanking a forehand wide. Break point - and this time Murray converts! Forward he comes again, with Del Potro trying to blast a forehand across him, but Murray reaches it and punches it back beyond his rival.OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO LONG, SOMEONE GET ME A GLASS OF WATER. Murray to serve. Lots of noise and movement in the crowd so he takes his precious time, before slamming one out wide which DelPo does very well to return. Stepping into the net Murray belts it back into the same corner, and the Argentinian can only hook it into the net. First blood to the Brit.Murray then makes an uncharacteristic error on the next point, hitting his backhand with too much topspin and failing to clear the net.
He snatches the initiative back moments later though, as DelPo's backhand clips the tape and falls back into his side of the court. And then another error from Murray! Sloppy, throwaway backhand which doesn't have enough on it, and we're all-square.He goes for his towel and kills a few seconds, composing himself, and then wins the next point in an emphatic manner, pushing DelPo right to the back of the court. His return is lofted up, and Murray comes into the net to smash the winner.
There's a nice rally on the next point with both men exchanging cross-court shots, before DelPo shoots long. Murray holds. Great Britain's Justin Rose has become the first Olympic golf champion in 112 years.Max Whitlock became a double Olympic champion in the floor and pommel horse gymnastic events.Louis Smith won a silver on the pommel horse.Becky James has broken the Olympic record in the women's sprint at the velodrome.Nick Dempsey won a silver medal in the RS:X class windsurfing event.Giles Scott practically wrapped up a gold medal in the Finn class sailing.And Great Britain climbed above the People's Republic of China in the overall medal table.
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 just now.It’s obviously a very 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.Juan Martin has played great here and has lots of confidence after beating Novak and he had a great win against Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon. He's getting back to the level he was at before and that's good to see.
One of the reasons this match is so anticipated is because Murray and Del Potro really haven’t shared a court as often as they should have done in recent years.In 2008 and 2009 the pair played six matches against one another, with Murray winning five of them – including during the quarter-finals of the US Open.However, in the last seven years the pair have met only once, largely due to Del Potro’s continues injury woes. Interestingly it was the Argentinian who prevailed, beating Murray in three sets at Indian Wells in 2013 after losing a first-set tiebreak. Juan Martin Del Potro caused offence at the Foro Italico by bringing Andy Murray’s mother into their changeover trash-talking. Murray said he never sets out to be antagonistic, and is not overly concerned if opponents make personal remarks about him.
He will, however, react if he believes that they are insulting his mother Judy.Murray saw metaphorical red on the red courts of the Rome Masters after Argentina’s Del Potro made a jibe about Judy during their lively opening-round match late on Monday night, a contest that the Briton won after the gangly 19-year-old qualifier retired in the final set because of back pain.The soundtrack on television recordings indicated that the flare-up began during a change of ends in the second set, after Murray raised the issue of why Del Potro had not said sorry after drilling a ball towards his head. Murray has known Del Potro since their junior days, and they have since chatted on the internet, and so he expected an apology. But Del Potro responded by snapping that Murray and his mother had not changed, and were “always the same”.The young men raged on their chairs - tennis does seated arguments better than any other sport - with Murray insisting that Del Potro’s comment about his mother had been “unacceptable”. Umpire Fergus Murphy, sitting in his high-chair between the warring pair, asked Murray to calm down.And here's the video. Second round: Beat Joao Sousa 6-3, 1-6, 6-3An up and down game, with Del Potro making a strong start before being steamrollered in the second. But he kept his composure, with Sousa tiring in the third. Third round: Beat Taro Daniel 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-2Del Potro had to come from behind to beat the spirited Japanese, but Daniel has only ever once before beaten a player in the top-30, and fell to pieces as the game went on.
Quarter-final: Beat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)The Argentinian collapsed into tears after winning his quarter-final in straight sets. Many had tipped Bautista Agut, ranked 20 th in the world, for victory over a tiring Del Potro, but he prevailed in straight sets to set up a semi with another Spaniard: Rafa Nadal.
Seeded second for the tournament and in the opposite side of the draw to Novak Djokovic, the pressure was on Team GB's flag-bearer Andy Murray to make his second successive Olympic final. He managed it - but he has had his fair share of scares along the way. 1 st round: Beat Viktori Troicki 6-3, 6-2.An easy victory for Murray, who banished the memories of his first-round exit at his last overseas Olympics with a comfortable straight-sets win. Murray sealed progression in little over 80 minutes. 2 nd round: Beat Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-1Murray may have started with a double-fault, but he quickly pulled himself together with another routine win. Dropping just four games, Murray was back in the changing rooms after 69 minutes with Monaco making far too many unforced errors to be competitive. 3 rd round: Beat Fabio Fognini 6-2, 2-6, 6-3The Italian so nearly upset the British number one and reigning Wimbledon champion in the third round, after he won the second set 6-2 and led 3-0 in the third.
But Murray rallied, with his superior fitness and focus proving the difference at the tail-end of the crucial third set. Quarter-final: Beat Steve Johnson 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2)Johnson suffered the ignominy of being bagelled in the first set, and Murray looked to be merrily marching on into the semi-finals. But the American bounced back in the second before taking Murray to a nervy third-set tie break.
The Scot prevailed, despite the pressure. And welcome to our live coverage of the men's tennis final at Rio 2016, as our lad Andy Murray aims to become the first tennis player to win back-to-back Olympic tennis gold medals. Andre Agassi, Rafa Nadal, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams. None of those chumps have been good enough to defend their titles, presenting Murray with a real shot of glory today.Not that it's going to be easy, of course.
Standing in between Murray and a second gold medal is Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner who would surely, surely, have more Major titles by now if it was not for his many injury problems. But the 27-year-old, who is currently ranked number 141 in the world not because he is pants but because he's prone to missing months out with wrist problems, has been in sparkling form this tournament, overcoming both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.This one is due to get underway in around 40 minutes. In the meantime, stick with us for all of the big match build-up. Here's Simon Briggs' on Murray's run to the final:A week ago, Andy Murray showed off the strength of his racket arm as Great Britain’s flagbearer in the opening ceremony.
On Saturday he deployed that power wisely against Kei Nishikori, who must have been tempted to raise a flag of surrender in their Olympic semi-final.It wasn’t that Nishikori played poorly during a 6-1, 6-4 defeat that occupied only 80 minutes. It was just that Murray was at his bewildering best, clunking his backhand with the uninhibited gusto of a baseballer practising home runs. On this form, it was hard to see how he could be stopped.Murray’s victory makes him the first man to reach successive Olympic finals, and earns him a date on Sunday against Juan Martin del Potro, who needed a contrasting 3hr 8min to come through a stunning match against Rafael Nadal. With the final due to be played over the best of five sets, Murray ought to have a clear physical advantage. The scenario is reminiscent of the way his first gold medal panned out in London four years ago, when Roger Federer became mired in a four-and-a-half-hour semi-final (also against del Potro, as it happens) and then turned up for the showpiece with barely a watt of power left in his legs.On Saturday, Murray held his hands up to his face after the final point, in the knowledge that he will stand on the podium again, and claim further Olympic decoration to go with the singles gold and mixed-doubles silver he won in 2012. Afterwards, he admitted that he had felt a responsibility to the whole British team.“After carrying the flag, you don’t want to go and bomb out in the first round,” said Murray afterwards.
“I’m glad I’ve managed to put myself in a position to win a medal, but the goal is obviously gold. It would top off a special ten days for me.”.
Murray had shown signs of mortality in his two previous rounds, both of which started as cakewalks before turning into tightrope walks. But the gusting wind, which had been such an inconvenience in those matches against Fabio Fognini and Steve Johnson, was less forceful yesterday and Murray was able to bring his full arsenal to bear.The penultimate point of the match turned into arguably the rally of the tournament. Murray, struggling to close out his win, attacked with a series of those bone-shaking crosscourt backhands, only for Nishikori to scramble them all back and then make a sortie of his own towards the net. Murray, caught off balance, thrust a desperate racket at the ball and wound up on his backside as his retrieval slice turned into a perfect passing shot, landing smack in the corner.“I just came up with a bit of a lucky shot up the line,” said Murray, who closed the deal on the next point with a strong second serve that Nishikori could only bunt into the net.“I didn’t even see it bounce so I didn’t know if it was in or not. I was pumped because at that moment, if he turns that around and potentially breaks, it’s a totally different match. The shot itself is a bit lucky, you don’t practise shots like that.
But the work you do off the court for those long points in the big moments, it pays off.”. This was not an especially good-tempered match. Murray received a time violation in the fifth game, whereupon he upbraided umpire Carlos Ramos with the words “I’m not convinced.
I’m going to check after the match.” Later, he and Ramos became embroiled in a debate over whether he had said “stupid umpire” or “stupid umpiring”.There were plenty of Nishikori fans chanting away inside the 10,000-seater stadium, which started out only a third full but grew busier. And Murray regularly became agitated about fans or cameramen moving around during points. Still, after the way his last two matches almost wriggled out of his control, he might have felt he needed a few grievances to keep himself focused. Whatever Murray is doing, it is working.
This was his 17 th straight victory, dating back to the start of the grass-court season. And that is a personal record, eclipsing the 15 wins he scored during the autumn of 2011.“I’ve not always played my best tennis this week but found a way to win,” said Murray afterwards. “Often in events you have matches like the one on Saturday and the one against Fognini.
If you can get through, you can start to find your form and feel better as the tournament goes on. I’ve had that a few times, like at Wimbledon the match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could have gone either way in that fifth set. I’m just happy I’ve come through those ones and made it a great, great few months.'