On long day, Nadal assures self, Spain of at least 1 medal

Fognini was the last man to beat Murray in Davis Cup, when Britain lost to Italy in the quarter-finals two years ago, but facing the 29-year-old on a clay court in Naples was a rather different proposition to a slow hard court on a windy Rio day. So I just started winning games basically and I hadn’t won one in 45, 50 minutes.

Murray will take on 22nd-ranked American Steve Johnson, a 6-1, 6-1 victor over Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy on Thursday, in the quarterfinals. But in the second set, Fognini seemed to gain confidence.

Fognini had a point to lead 4-1 but could not take it and Murray raced to victory with a run of six games in a row.

“I don’t know what it is that makes the wind a factor, in some big stadiums obviously the wind can swirl a bit”, he added.

“I am happy I got through, I get another opportunity to play better hopefully in easier conditions”.

“I won, that’s what’s important”.

The pair initially missed out but continued to sign in as alternates and were rewarded with a first-round match against Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro and David Ferrer.

The men’s draw was missing some star names but is shaping up well, with Murray, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro and Kei Nishikori all making the last eight.

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

The 14-time major victor was also scheduled to play mixed doubles for the first time in his career with French Open champion Garbine Muguruza.

It was straightforward in the women’s singles as German Angelique Kerber crushed Johanna Konta to reach the semi-finals along with Czech Petra Kvitova, American Madison Keys and Puerto Rican Monica Puig.

Big-hitting American Madison Keys was the first woman through to the semi-finals, with the 21-year-old beating Daria Kasatkina of Russian Federation 6-3 6-1.