The Rio de Janeiro semifinal lineup consists of three Grand Slam champions (the other is a slam runner-up), two singles gold medalists, and three of the top four seeds. Saturday will pit Andy Murray against Kei Nishikori before Rafael Nadal faces Juan Martin Del Potro.
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (3) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Del Potro will be squaring off for the 13th time in their careers when they battle for a spot in the gold-medal match at the Rio Olympics on Saturday. Although Nadal leads the head-to-head series 8-4, they have split their eight most recent encounters with four wins apiece. They are also an even 4-4 lifetime on hard courts. Mainly because of Del Potro’s recurring wrist issues, these two veterans have faced each other only twice since 2011 and not a single time since 2013. In a pair of meetings three years ago, Nadal prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Indian Wells final before Del Potro got the job done 6-2, 6-4 in Shanghai.
It has already been an emotional week in Rio de Janeiro for both men. Del Potro had to go up against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic right off the bat, but the 27-year-old Argentine powered his way to a stunning 7-6(4), 7-6(2) upset and then parlayed that into wins over Joao Sousa, Taro Daniel, and Roberto Bautista Agut. Nadal is a perfect 9-0 overall–singles and doubles combined–in Rio and he captured doubles gold with Marc Lopez in a back-and-forth showdown against Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau that lasted two and a half hours on Friday night. The fifth-ranked Spaniard also needed three sets in his singles quarterfinal, which he won 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 at the expense of Thomaz Bellucci. Nadal preceded that victory by defeating Federico Delbonis, Andreas Seppi, and Gilles Simon all in straight sets. Both physically and emotionally, the No. 3 seed may be running on something close to empty when he goes up against Del Potro. Unless Nadal takes an offensive approach to this match right from the start, he will be on the defensive–and perhaps defenseless–amidst an onslaught of Del Potro forehands.
Pick: Del Potro in 2
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(4) Kei Nishikori vs. (2) Andy Murray
Nobody endured tougher matches on Friday than Murray and Nishikori. Murray trailed by a break in the final set but recovered to beat Steve Johnson 6-0, 4-6, 7-6(2). Nishikori found himself one point from defeat on three occasions, but he erased a 6-3 deficit in a decisive tiebreaker and won the last five points of the match to stun Gael Monfils 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(6). The result is an eighth career contest between two of the top seven players in the world. Murray is leading the head-to-head series 6-1, including 5-1 on hard courts (4-0 outdoors). Their most recent meeting produced one of the best matches of the 2016 campaign to date, with Murray triumphing 7-5, 7-6(6), 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 in a first-round Davis Cup rubber on the indoor hard courts of Great Britain.
The second-ranked Scot is already an Olympic gold medalist, having assumed the top spot on the podium four years ago in London. He has relied on that experience already in Rio, with extremely difficult victories over Johnson and Fabio Fognini to go along with more routine defeats of Viktor Troicki and Juan Monaco. Nishikori preceded his escape against Monfils by beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas, John Millman, and Andrej Martin. It has to be said that the Japanese world No. 7 got flat-out lucky against Monfils (who double-faulted on match point at 6-5 in the third-set ‘breaker); he may not be so fortunate with a defending Olympic champion on the other side of the net.
Pick: Murray in 3
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So it is a tb!
My heart can’t take it!
What a thriller!
I thought it would be an advantage set! tie break! woah
I cannot believe the angle Rafa got on that CC backhand winner
Match pnt saved. Somehow. Heart thumping. PLease save one more …..
Oh Yes!
Murray had a cakewalk against Kei.
Can’t believe Rafa missed that shot! Shoking! So sad…
Congrats Delpo and his fans! Hope he wins Gold tomorrow!
shittttt…. Rafa had it on his racket to save it but… it wasn’t to be…
Many congrats to Delpo, love the guy. BUt, poor Rafa 🙁 he gave it all he had! Rafa was so low on energy in the third set…he was not getting length on his groundies but he was just not willing to go away!
Rafa is back and so is Delpo!
Free ride to the gold medal for Murray. How will Delpo play best of five!!1
delighted for delpo but he escaped major chokes in three different games where could’ve finished it.
danger from such a win is he might feel like he’s already played his final mentally. murray might be in for an easy one.
Will Rafa have enough to win bronze against Kei?
Rafa had the shot. The I/O forehand was wide open. I don’t know how he missed it. I really thought when he saved match point to make it 6-5 that he was destined to win.
I just feel for Rafa because he gave it his all. He left it all out on the court. He was tired and just playing on sheer will and heart. I knew he wanted it that much, so of course I wanted him to win.
Congratulations to Delpo. But I am so proud of Rafa for playing like a champion and never giving up. To come back and play for the first time since his injury and just bring his best, well I am a very proud and grateful fan.
I don’t know if Rafa will have anything left for the bronze medal match with Nishi. He really put it all out there to win this one and play for another gold singles medal.
I would be shocked if Murray doesn’t win the gold,
no-one can criticise rafa for missing the last shot. he must have been running on fumes for a lot of that match and his fight was amazing. am gutted but pleased for delpo who has suffered so much and deserves to be back at the top table where he belongs.
don’t see how either rafa or delpo could win tomorrow after that match, especially as murray had a very easy win.
rafa doesn’t seem to go for the t serve any more – maybe he thinks he can’t make them? that used to be a big weapon for him when he needed to pull things out.
am worried that rafa won’t have anything left in the tank when he plays kei. he must win bronze after that incredible effort.
deucey please spare us your fake analysis. Rafa is already a legend and nothing you say can alter that.
get lost troll. you are ridiculous beyond belief. no-one is a bigger fake than you. the fact that you continually use rafa’s name to try to bully and harass people shows that you don’t care about him or respect him. no-one who really did would exploit his name for their own malicious purposes.
Oh my Gosh!
Delpo you beauty!!
You have been sorely missed. Can’t really express my happiness right now.
Both the guys gave their all out on the court today.
How I wish the final also had been a best of 3. That would have surely given Delpo the Gold.
Nevertheless, reaching the final is an extraordinary achievement in itself.
#HailDELPO
congrats abhirf..am very happy for delpo although feeling pretty gutted. wish it was best of 3…
Amy, that is what I have been talking about. It is his new serving position that has taken that clutch serve away from him. Second serve surely benefits but first serve not so sure…the slider works well but the big one is gone.
Rafa is a lion! He will be ready for USO.Please pull out from Cincy
vr i do have a lot of doubts about it. because he has to have the option of the t-serve especially in the slams.
do you remember i said he was going to win USO? and i never make those predictions…
Keeping the emotions of this match aside, I thought Muzz played really well against Kei. very rarely seen him hitting groundstrokes with purpose. He really amped-up his FH and BH today.
Thoughts?
Rafa coulld have won but it was not meant to be! He fought so hard! He was mentally eghausted and it took a toll in the crucial moments like that last shot! But Delpo played great again! The way he dispatched Novak in 2 and now managed to get the best of Rafa he deserves to be in the final!
Rafa will be too tired to fight with Kei…but it’s great to see healthy Rafa. His wrist seems ok!
Vamos!
I would never blame Rafa for missing that last shot. I just wanted him to make it because he had fought so hard to stay in the match. What a warrior!
If he had to lose to someone, then let it be Delpo who has gone through so much difficulty.
Rafa knows that he put it all out there and left it on the court. That is all anyone can ask of their favorite player.
It would have been wonderful to see Rafa play for another gold medal or even a silver. But I don’t think there was any way Rafa would have had enough left to beat Murray.
I don’t know what Rafa can summon up for the bronze medal match. I do hope that he pulls out of Cincy.
It was beautiful to see Rafa giving it his all and producing such great tennis. Coming back from the wrist injury he showed that he still has the heart of a champion.
Love you, Rafa!
☝️??
I saw a tweet that Rafa said he’s satisfied, that he gave it his best. And he’s always said that’s all anyone can do. Goodness knows I’m satisfied. Well, like Rafa, I always want more. But as they say in tennis, 10 days ago I’d have signed for this fantastic week! Rafa represented his country with pride and passion and joy and, incredibly, added luster to his own brilliant career. And, incidentally, what a comeback!
I am proud of Rafa! He gave it his all! He truly represents the Olympics spirit.
Man I love del Po. It’s kinda sad to think how much greater he could’ve been if the injuries hadn’t happened but with them he’s still had an amazing career and I’m sure he has many more big moments ahead. Possibly a huge one tomorrow. Honestly I think del Po would’ve been a possible world number one without the injuries as he won his first GS at 20 and looked to be the next big thing but of course the injuries were unfortunate. So glad he’s showing he’s back and not gone. If he could play like this for the next few years slams aren’t out of the question for JMDP. VAMOS JUAN!! Sad for Rafa tho. Hope he does great at US open and in bronze match.
Vamos del Potro! Remember when Rafa never lost those kind of matches? Feel sorry for him if he is too pooped to win bronze.
@Alyssa Nicolas
It was always a surprise that Rafa entered for doubles and mixed doubles in the first place but at least he has the satisfaction of winning the men’s doubles. He has time to recover for the play-off with Nishi who seems to have an injury problem and was way off form against Murray.