The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsAndy Murray has reached the quarterfinals of the Olympics as the Brit overcame a stern test from Fabio Fognini to eventually beat the Italian 6-1 2-6 6-3. The Brit initially dealt better with the windy conditions as he comfortably led by a set and a break, but the combination of Fognini responding with stunning tennis and Murray suffering a lapse in form enabled the Italian to dramatically take the match into a third set. However, despite going down a break in the decider, the Brit gradually recovered and capitalised on a late erratic display from Fognini to seal a hard-fought win.
In the opening set, Murray’s solid tennis was proving too much for the Italian initially and a series of errors from Fognini gifted the world number two the early break, which he consolidated to establish a 3-0 lead. The Italian was struggling to adapt to the windy conditions and Murray continued to ruthlessly punish him, capitalising on more errors to seal another break when Fognini committed a double-fault. The Brit maintained his consistent form to open up an unassailable 5-0 margin, and even though he failed to convert set points on Fognini’s serve, Murray closed out the set comfortably in the following game to gain the advantage in the match.
As the second set unfolded, the Italian was still finding it difficult to manage his erratic display but Murray was in unforgiving mood and he broke his opponent once again with a deep backhand winner to gain a 2-1 lead. However, just when it seemed he was in complete control of the contest, a series of unexpected errors from Murray in the following game handed the Italian the break back. Fognini was beginning to grow in confidence and the Italian moved ahead 3-2, before profiting from more wayward shot-making from the Brit to strike again with another break. Murray tried to respond immediately and created a potential opportunity at 30-0 on Fognini’s serve, but the Italian stood firm and produced some sparkling tennis to consolidate the break for a 5-2 lead. Murray’s form had gone off the boil whilst Fognini was firmly in the ascendancy and the Italian maintained his high quality tennis to break Murray yet again with a stunning backhand passing shot winner and as a result level the match at one set apiece.
In the deciding set, Fognini continued to successfully take the imitative in the rallies and despite Murray’s resistance, the Italian eventually converted one of his break point chances to claim the early break. The Brit fought hard and held opportunities to retrieve the break back, but his inconsistent play allowed Fognini to survive and consolidate the break to open up a 3-0 lead. However, Murray refused to lie down and he stopped the remarkable run of games against him to reduce the deficit, before capitalising on consecutive errors from the Italian to seize the break back. The world number two had regained the momentum and he quickly levelled the scoreline at 3-3, before an error strewn game from the Italian enabled Murray to gain another break. As Fognini continued to constantly oblige with the unforced errors, the Brit took full advantage to hold his serve for a 5-3 lead before wrapping up the victory with another break in the following game, to set up a quarterfinal tussle against Steve Johnson.
Meanwhile, Johanna Konta was forced to dig deep as the Brit fought back from a set down to edge out Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6 7-5 7-5.
Also, Rafael Nadal secured a 7-6 6-3 win over Gilles Simon and the 2008 Beijing gold medallist will face home favourite Thomaz Bellucci next, as the Brazilian upset David Goffin in straight sets. In addition, Juan Martin Del Potro defeated Taro Daniel 6-7 6-1 6-2 as Kei Nishikori, Roberto Bautista Agut and Gael Monfils all progressed into the quarterfinals.
On the women’s side, Madison Keys moved through with a three set victory over Carla Suarez Navarro, to join Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova and Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals. However, the biggest upset in the draw came when Elina Svitolina capitalised on an erratic performance by Serena Williams to stun the world number one 6-4 6-3 and end the American’s hopes of defending her gold medal. Also, Garbine Muguruza made a surprising exit as the Spaniard was hammered 6-1 6-1 by Monica Puig.
