Andy Murray wins 2016 Olympic tennis gold medal

Andy Murray has won the men’s singles gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, besting Juan Martin Del Potro in four sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Murray immediately put himself on top by holding his first service game and then breaking Del Potro after a very long second game. They exchanged advantage multiple times before Murray finally secured the break to go up 2-0 in the first set. But Del Potro immediately battled back and broke Murray on the following game.

Unfortunately, the service games proved to be the least reliable, and Murray took three straight points to set up a triple break point opportunity. He got the break on his first try, going up 3-1 with a service game to come. But Del Potro battled back and got things back on serve by breaking Murray a couple of games later.

Things were close from there, looking like it was going to tiebreak when Murray managed to break Del Potro again while up 6-5 to take the opening set at 7-5.

Del Potro got the second set started by breaking Murray after a long back-and-forth, and Murray immediately threatened to break back. He didn’t get it, and Del Potro stayed ahead. Del Potro held serve again and was hoping to break Murray for the second set while up 5-3. He could not secure the break and instead was serving for the set.

Fortunately for him, Del Potro held serve and took the second set.

Unfortunately, Del Potro started to waver with two consecutive double faults, and Murray took advantage to go up 4-2 in the third set. He then was unable to break Murray and was serving in a significant hole. Murray broke him anyway and took the third set and a 2-1 lead going into the fourth set.

Each player broke the other twice to start the fourth set, with Murray finally holding serve to go up 3-2. But Del Potro held and then broke Murray and found himself serving for the fourth set at 5-4. He got a little too aggressive at one stage and tried to move up to the net, and he hit one long, giving Murray advantage and a break point attempt.

Murray got the break, and the fourth set continued. Del Potro threatened a break on Murray’s ensuing serve, but he couldn’t get it. Murray finally broke Del Potro late in the fourth set.

Something about the Olympics had Del Potro playing the best tennis of his career. The 2009 US Open winner had his career derailed by injuries and inconsistent play. Since his US Open win, his success has been limited, at least until he showed up in Rio.

For whatever reason, Del Potro tapped into a deep reserve of determination and managed to put together a brilliant run through the men’s singles bracket. Del Potro got things started with an incredible victory over Novak Djokovic, the top seed and gold medal favorite. In the semifinals, he faced Rafael Nadal, the third seed, and took him down in three sets.

Add in Murray, the second seed, in the finals, and Del Potro had the absolute toughest run through the bracket as he or anybody else possibly could have. Going from an unseeded afterthought to winning a silver medal for Argentina was an incredible run.

Nishikori bested Nadal to earn the bronze medal earlier on Sunday.