Two-time Olympic men's singles champion Andy Murray into the men's doubles last eight of the tennis tournament in Tokyo as he chases a fourth medal in a third successive Games; Liam Broady beats Wimbledon semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz
Tuesday 27 July 2021 11:11, UK
Andy Murray and partner Joe Salisbury stayed on course for an Olympic medal after reaching men's doubles quarter-final, while British No 5 Liam Broady knocked out Wimbledon semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz in the men's singles.
Murray withdrew from the men's singles with a minor thigh injury on Sunday, and his reward is a place in the last eight alongside two-time Grand Slam champion Salisbury.
The pair beat Germany's Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-2 7-6 (7/2) and the result keeps Murray on course for a third successive gold medal after he claimed the gold in the men's singles at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
They will face the Croatian pair of Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig in the quarter-finals after the beat America's Frances Tiafoe and Rajeev Ram. Murray's brother Jamie and his partner Neal Skupski were beaten on Monday by the Japanese duo of Ben McLachlan and Kei Nishikori.
Britain's remaining hope in the singles events is Liam Broady and he produced a spectacular performance to knock out Wimbledon semi-finalist - and Roger Federer's conquerer in SW19 - Hubert Hurkacz in three sets.
British No 5 Broady was offered a place in the tennis draw by the International Tennis Federation due to his world ranking and after Dan Evans withdrew following a positive coronavirus test, Cameron Norrie's decision to focus on his hard-court build-up for the US Open and Andy Murray's Sunday withdrawal he carried Team GB's singles hopes.
He won the opening set and while seventh seed Hurkacz came back to the level the back world No 161 Broady kept his nerve brilliantly to win the decider and claim a 7-5 3-6 6-3 victory that sets up a last 16 meeting with Jeremy Chardy.
Murray showed no ill effects after his thigh problem, and revealed afterwards that he has been watching on as Britain's 'Magic Monday' saw the first of the gold medals begin to roll in.
"It was a really good day yesterday," he said after he and Salisbury teamed up for another straight sets win.
"Obviously nice to see Tom Daley winning and Adam Peaty, another amazing performance from him, it's been great, hopefully we can be part of that."
Murray also went on to discuss the reasons behind his singles decision. A withdrawal that left him unable to claim an historic third gold singles medal but has kept alive his hopes of a fourth medal in total.
Murray also teamed up with Laura Robson to win silver in the mixed doubles in 2012, and with Salisbury by his side they have already accounted for French second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut
"It [the injury] felt fine, it hasn't really affected me at all in the two matches that I've played," he added.
"It was very disappointing because I prepared well, was feeling good again and then just had something showing up on the scans that we weren't too happy with.
"When we spoke about playing, I told Joe if I had any physical issues that I'd prioritise the doubles over singles, that's why I made the decision to stick just with the doubles.
"I would have been annoyed with myself if I'd taken the decision to play with the issue that I had, made it worse, lost my singles and then not been able to perform well in the doubles.
"I think physically I'll be OK for the rest of the tournament but I'll need to take a break afterwards."
