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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come on delpo!! you have to win!
am casting a pro-delpo spell over the proceedings to help him…
Ha ha, hilarious!!! There is such a thing as trying too hard to prove you are not a Muzz fan!
Didn’t get to see a bit of it. But sorry for Rafa. (Not very much, really!) He’s got so much! Happy Kei got a medal for his country. I thought he’d never get it done.
All over! Even if Rafa had won, I still stand by what I have been saying all along. He should not have played the singles. I guess Rafa thought like this, ” Even with my bum wrist, I am still Spain’s best bet to win medals (in tennis). So I must give my all even if it means the end of my career.” It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done…Rafa a la Sydney Carton
TBH I also did not want Rafa to play the Olympics! I thought it was too early but once he was there I hoped for the best.
I hope Rafa’s wrist is fine! I really do. If not, he will be in real trouble for the rest of the season.,.I think his team knows what they are doing and wouldn’t let him risk that much…,
Rafa just wouldn’t go without fight! Great effort but Nishi did all he needed to win in the end! He played well, while Rafa seemed unable to return Nishi’s serve. I am talking about the third set only when I was finally able to watch the match.
Nishi took pretty long break between the sets when Rafa was on the run. Was it tactical I Can’t say, but it did get Rafa upset. He was nervous for the remaining time of the match and kept complaining which lead him nowhere…
Sad Rafa did not get the medal after all he has invested in this but I think Rafa is hitting better and will be ready for USO!
Vamos Champ!
Never seen somebody try so hard and get no medal.
Hoping delp wins this one….he did all the heavy lifting.
agreed pat
I can’t believe how hard Delpo struggled in his first service game. Andy finally gets the early break to go up 2-0.
Not looking good for Delpo.
I think Delpo may be out of gas at this point.
Now Delpo with two break points. Maybe he can get the break back.
Looks like Andy will take his 2nd gold against a gassed opponent in the final.
Uh, not so fast. Delpo may well be gassed but he just broke back.
Andy is still the favorite to win this match, but Delpo is showing some fight.
Well Delpo gets the break back!
Oops! Delpo now down 0-40 on his serve.
Murray breaks right back. So much for Delpo getting back on track.
Andy is the fresher player and has so much confidence,
Re NBC’s live streaming: You have to open an account by which they mean give them the name of your cable provider and your password for that. You do that once. You may have to log in again occasionally but they’ll remember you if you ask them to. I’m told that you can watch replays of events but have not tried that myself.
This is an absolute shell of the guy that beat Novak a week ago.
sigh. expected but depressing. 2 tourneys in a row where murray is a shoe-in for the title due to lack of opposition.
It’s pretty much what we expected. That match with Rafa had to take it out of Delpo. That was a long tough battle. Too many three setters this week for Delpo, catching up with him now.
yeah true. would just have loved to see a fairytale ending..
It’s hard to believe Delpo is in the final in Rio. I didn’t expect him to get this far. He’ll just have to settle for silver. Anyways, Andy is the best one in this match by a lot. Considering the past months, Rafa and Delpo are amazing to have had such a great run in Rio.
…as I type that Delpo breaks back 😀
This is so weird. Just when you think that Delpo is done, he comes back and gets the break. Now he has to hold and consolidate the break to get back in the set.
Guys, this is a 5 setter. Don’t give up on JMDP quite yet.
delpo will pass out if it goes to 5…
bloody pascal maria not letting delpo have the challenge for a ball that was probably out and would have given him 3 break points.
anyone else find murray’s shouting come on and let’s go over and over loudly very annoying?
As much as I respect Murray’s game and his heart to fight I have always found all aspects of his behaviour on court very annoying 😀
me too. hope delpo beats him over the head with his racket if he loses!! i am british which makes it so much worse…
don’t overdo your fake Muzz hate, dear!
Yep, I feel exactly the same way. I find watching Murray tolerable only when Lendl is courtside to keep Muzz’ behavior in check. If I were his mum I’d have whapped him upside the head with his own racket when he acted like that.
yep, he can be very annoying but I still like him. 😉
hahaha trading breaks again. Delpo giving all he possibly can!
Amy
goddamn it. delpo got tight. think i will stop watching it now. cross with pascal maris over that missed challenge to get the break…
Why not hide behind the sofa or go for a walk?
Murray is a concrete wall! his backhand is absorbing everything and he is also managing to change direction on backhands. Poor delpo is feeling the fatigue