Andy Murray scrapes into the Rio Olympics tennis semifinals

Thursday’s swirling wind, which contributed to Murray nearly crashing out to Fabio Fognini, had died down and the world No.2 initially found the conditions much more to his liking.

The Argentine beat the Spaniard 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 – including an epic tie-breaker in the final set – to advance to the final against Andy Murray.

“I left the last of my toenails on the court”, said Del Potro, whose ranking has slipped to 141 after a series of wrist injuries over the past six years.

“Sometimes that can work in your favour as the tournament goes on”. “He’s someone I haven’t beaten for a long time, so I have to play much better tennis for sure to beat him”.

“It feels different (playing at the Olympics) because it’s special”. With a third win over a Grand Slam victor, he’ll be gold.

It’s a huge win for the Briton, who – should he lose his semifinal match – will compete in a medal match regardless.

The Scot eventually prevailed in the decider to win 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) to set up a semi-final clash with Japan’s Kei Nishikori or Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Murray was a [1.41] shot that day and he’s just slightly shorter today and the British flag bearer will need better than we’ve seen in the last two matches to justify those odds.

Puig, the world No. 34, will face either German second seed and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber or American seventh seed Madison Keys for the title.

The 26-year-old does not possess Fognini’s extravagant talent but his serve and forehand were combining effectively while Murray’s game, particularly his backhand, had gone off the boil.

Murray broke the Nishikori serve to lead 3-1 and then shrugged off a time violation, having a brief complain to umpire Carlos Ramos before winning the next two points. Have no doubt, he had the game to take it to the toughest guys on the men’s tour.

That gave him his third match point, which he converted with a service victor.

Kei Nishikori is coming off a straight sets loss to Andy Murray that took 17 games to decide.

In an era dominated by three all-time greats, to accomplish something Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have not done first, and nearly certainly never will, is a huge feather in Murray’s cap.

Spain’s Rafa Nadal also secured a spot in the semi-finals with a hard fought victory against local favourite Thomaz Belucci of Brazil, rallying back after losing the first set.

Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori will face in the second semifinal match and the victor will fight in the gold medal match between the victor in the first semifinal match between Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin Del Potro.