Andy Murray safely through in Rio singles

Murray will play the victor of the match between France’s Benoit Paire and Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the round of 16. That was it. Jamie’s a way more experienced doubles player than me.

Fresh from his Wimbledon triumph last month and unbeaten in 14 since losing the French Open final, Murray is strongly tipped for gold with Djokovic gone.

Andy Murray cruised into the third round of the men’s singles with a straight sets victory over Argentina’s Juan Monaco.

In the second stanza, Murray seemed intent on getting out of the Rio heat as quickly as possible- he broke three times en route to claiming the set 6-1 and in doing so the match.

Del Potro produced a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa, before heading back out on court with partner Maximo Gonzalez and getting beaten by Marc Lopez and Nadal 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

While Murray is still three matches from a medal Konta is only two away, beating twice Grand Slam victor Svetalana Kuznetsova 3-6 7-5 7-5 in a marathon three hours and seven minutes.

They also included all three matches that Rafael Nadal, who is still in the singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles, was due to play.

Murray is the highest seed left in the draw after Novak Djokovic was stunned by Juan Martin del Potro in the first round.

Venus was not originally expected to enter the event but lost in the first round in both singles and doubles, teaming with sister Serena.

The 29-year-old, who next meets either Italy’s Fabio Fognini or Benoit Paire of France, was content with his performance against Monaco.

The other two quarter-finals see second seed Angelique Kerber tackle Britain’s Johanna Konta and Madison Keys, the seventh seed, up against Daria Kasatkina.

Tenth seed Konta eased through her opening two matches but this was a real step up.

“I’ve been very fortunate so far in my career that I’ve been a part of so many spectacular matches”, said Konta.

Having failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in the decider, the 25-year-old recovered from 0-40 at 5-5 before clinching victory on her fourth match point.