Olympic gold in men’s singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics is all coming down to Andy Murray vs. Juan Martin Del Potro on Sunday. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori will be squaring off for the final spot on the podium.
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (2) Andy Murray
Murray and Del Potro will be facing each other for the eighth time in their careers when the collide in the gold-medal match at the Rio Olympics on Sunday. The head-to-head series stands at 5-2 in favor of Murray, who has four of their five previous hard-court encounters. But they have not met since 2013, when Del Potro prevailed 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 in the Indian Wells quarterfinals. The 27-year-old Argentine has missed much of the last three seasons, which explains why he has not squared off against Murray–and other top players–in so long. It’s safe to say Del Potro’s latest comeback from wrist surgery has reached new heights in Rio, where his amazing run features defeats of Novak Djokovic, Joao Sousa, Taro Daniel, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Rafael Nadal.
The 2009 U.S. Open champion needed three sets against Sousa, Daniel, and Nadal, two tiebreakers against Djokovic, and one ‘breaker against Bautista Agut. Murray’s trek through the draw has come with less fanfare, but it certainly has not been easy. The second-ranked Scot trailed Fabio Fognini 3-0 in the third set during third-round action and one day later trailed Steve Johnson by a break at 4-3 in the decider. Murray also defeated Viktor Troicki and Juan Monaco, and he is coming off a 6-1, 6-4 beatdown of Kei Nishikori. Not only is the second seed more rested than Del Potro, but he can also rely on the experience of having played for–and won–a gold medal in singles (at the 2012 London Olympics).
Pick: Murray in 3
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(3) Rafael Nadal vs. (4) Kei Nishikori
Nadal finally lost in Rio de Janeiro. Despite having missed more than two months of this summer because of a wrist injury that knocked him out of the French Open, the Spaniard captured doubles gold with Marc Lopez and reached the semifinals in singles. But Nadal put his 9-0 overall record to the test on Saturday afternoon and lost a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5) thriller to Del Potro. He is still battling for a medal, however, thanks to victories over Federico Delbonis, Andreas Seppi, and Gilles Simon, and Thomaz Bellucci that carried him into the semifinals.
Up next for the third seed is an 11th career showdown against Nishikori, who is a horrendous 1-9 in the head-to-head series. Nadal has won two in a row at Nishikori’s expense this season since falling to the Japanese star right around this time last year at the Rogers Cup. Like the other three remaining participants in this event, Nishikori has flirted with disaster at times. He trailed Gael Monfils 6-3 in the final-set tiebreaker on Friday before winning the last five points of the match to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The world No. 7 preceded that result by getting the best of Albert Ramos-Vinolas, John Millman, and Andrej Martin. Nishikori looked like he was on his last legs during a disappointing performance against Murray in the semis, and he will need a resurgence in energy even against a presumably fatigued Nadal.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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Oh yes!!!
That backhand pass gives Delpo another two breakpoint chances!!!
If Rafa had been playing, I would have switched off the match by now. But with Muzz and Delpo playing, I have no skin in the game and can watch and enjoy!
I do not want this to be over until Delpo wins. Andy already has Gold.
Argentina, I’m crying for you!
I do not care who wins but I want it to go to a 5th set
Murray was there in the French open final and now is in the Olympics final. No prizes for guessing which poster got too tense to watch the matches!!!
Murray won!
It’s a shame this match wasn’t contested after a day off for both of these guys. It surely would have been much closer, much more competitive, maybe even with a different result.
Anyway it was a stunning display from both, congratz to Delpo for the whole tournament, let’s hope it’s the beginning of his another comeback to greatness!
This was a great match to watch! So many ups and downs and each guy trying to give it his best.
Delpo kept on fighting and did himself proud. But Andy was tough when it counted in the crucial moments of the match.
Congratulations to Andy Murray on repeating his fear of winning singles gold!
I meant to say FEAT of repeating winning singles gold!
? Delpo. He’s so sweet. such a good man. I love Delpo. ?
I’ll be happy for Andy in a minute or two. My hopes got all up for Delpo.
They better show the medal ceremony dang it.
rc,
They just said that they will be staying for the medal ceremony!
Although not a fan of Delpo, I am really feeling sad for him. What a performance! If this guy’s wrist is ok, he is definitely going to win slams soon!
Poor delp. Did all the heavy lifting and AM gets a gassed opponent. Oh well.
That is called the luck of the draw. But Muzz is a worthy winner.
deucey can come out now and celebrate!
Delpo! DELPO!! You Beauty!!
Muzz carves a piece of his own unique history. What a season this has been for him
I really enjoyed watching Olympic tennis this week. Some memorable matches with players putting it all on the line for no rankings points or money, but just for pride of country!
Congratulations to all of the medal winners and all the players who participated!
???❤️
So no metal for Rafa after all those matches. At least Lopez carried him to the doubles gold. Lucky to have a doubles specialist on your team.
uh, no trust me, Rafa came away with PLENTY of metal…
LOLOLOL
Huh? Who carried who? In the doubles final its obvious Rafa was the better player and carried the team to the finish line.
Rafa won a Gold, better than any Silver or Bronze medal of course!
British TV promised to show the medal ceremony. Waited up in vain for over an hour but they switched to Usain Bolt and other athletic events – finally gave up and crawled into bed at 4 am
Delpo seemed always the one who did the heavy duty for the benefit of others. In 2012 he pushed Fed to the limit, for the benefit of Murray in the final. In this Olympics, he stretched Rafa to the limit, for the benefit of Kei; at his own expense too in the final.
Delpo at his very best will certainly give all the top guys plenty of problems and imo he rightfully should be in the top five, even ahead of Stan. Now with Fed injuried and his form questionable, maybe its time for Delpo to make a move in the rankings, into top ten at least come next year.
Congrats to Murray, for the special feat he achieved here at the Olympics. I think its time for him to make a push for the no.1 ranking this year, he seems the most healthy one among the top guys.
ATP gave out no ranking points for this event this time around it seems. Sucks for Delpo who is 141 in the rankings.
what heart from delpo! please let this guy stay healthy now for a long time. tennis is infinitely richer when he is back in the frame, out for years effectively and look at him beating nole,rafa and giving murray a real fight. if he were not so tired he could have won.
and absolutely not hats off to pascal maria who wouldn’t allow delpo’s challenge even though he raised his arm straightaway at the end of the first set. the ball was out and would have given delpo 3 break points and very likely the first set! that’s a real injustice. if he had taken the first set he could have won the whole thing.
bet no-one wants to play delpo in the early rounds of the uso.
Bang on Amy.
That call was brutal. Murray hit the ball before the call and I’ve seen this too often.
Not sure it would have made the difference though. I don’t think Delpo had anything left for a fifth.
Just happy to see him back as a force again.
but it might not have gone to 5 if delpo had taken the first set hawks. the whole dynamic of the match would have changed. even the british commentators were saying that delpo was outplaying murray at that point. who knows? you can never tell because murray could have raised his game in the second as a response and won that one rather than losing it.
but pascal maria made completely the wrong call. even the british commentators were saying that it was very unfair as delpo clearly made the signal to challenge.
#amydeuceytryingtoohardtoproveshenoMuzzfan
#fakeoutrage
#EpicFail
It was very unfair.
That call is probably messed up more than any other.
Congrats deucey, your man won. It must be hard pretending to be a Rafa fan while being anti Rafa but why do you make it harder still by pretending to be anti Muzz when you are a Muzz fan? You must have been really upset when I exposed you and afraid of your troll mates reaction to the deception. But in your private email circuit they must have assured you that a troll’s identity is being a troll, fan base is irrelevant!
Hypocrite lol.
#ritb&kettle
Thanks to natashao, hawkeye and native have at least temporarily suspended their Gussie abuse duet(sometimes a tercet with vr joining in). Exposure as deucey has rendered Amy toothless. Troll team is looking for a new victim and is trying me out in that role!!!
#hawkeyetrolling
No you’re alone in that department.
What’s the matter ritb. Can’t get your fix today?
Maybe this will give you a little hit to calm the shakes.