Photo by Marianne Bevis
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal moved ominously into the Last 16 of the Men’s Singles event with winning performances against Argentina’s Juan Monaco and Italian Andreas Seppi respectively.
Murray took only 69 minutes to finish Argentine Juan Monaco’s Olympic campaign, winning in dominant fashion, 6-3, 6-1. The 29-year-old defending champion was imperious on the return and broke Monaco five times en route to victory.
“It was good today. I hit the ball well from the back of the court, not many unforced errors so it was a good match.†said the British star after the match.
Nadal overcomes UFEs to book a place in the next round
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal continued his unbeaten run in Rio. The 2008 gold medallist has already made the Doubles semi-finals and overcame a string of unforced errors to put away Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-3.
“This is an event you only play once every four years so that makes the emotions even higher. I am enjoying myself at the same time as not putting too much pressure on myself†said Nadal, who had looked doubtful of even competing at the games in the few days running up to the opening ceremony.
Nadal’s fellow Spaniard David Ferrer went down in three hard-fought sets against the Russian Evgeny Donskoy. Donskoy winning the match 3-6 7-6(1) 7-5.
Bellucci excites the locals
Local hope Thomaz Bellucci entertained a raucous crowd with a rollercoaster ride of a match against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas. The Brazilian prevailed in three sets – 6-2 4-6 6-3
Bellucci will next face Belgium’s David Goffin, who chalked up a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Israel’s Dudi Sela. Goffin, a first round victim in his previous Olympic appearance in London.
The sole American left in the competition, Steve Johnson beat Gastao Elias of Portugal 6-3 6-4.
Gilles Simon of France, joined compatriot Gael Monfils in the Last 16, with a win over Japan’s Yuichi Sugita 7-6(3) 6-2. The other French hope Benoit Paire was ousted out of the competition by the mercurial Italian Fabio Fognini 4-6 6-4 7-6(5)
Round 3 Line Up (Last 16) – in order of play
Centre Court:
Rafael Nadal (3) v Gilles Simon (15)
Andy Murray (2) v Fabio Fognini
Gael Monfils (6) v Marin Cilic (9)
Court 1
Juan Martin Del Potro v Taro Daniel
Kei Nishikori (4) v Andrej Martin
David Goffin (8) v Thomaz Bellucci
Court 2
Roberto Bautista Agut (10) v Gilles Muller
Court 3
Steve Johnson (12) v Evgeny Donskoy
Round 2 Results Wire
Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) beat 11-Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) 6-2 4-6 6-3
Fabio Fognini (Italy) beat 16-Benoit Paire (France) 4-6 6-4 7-6(5)
8-David Goffin (Belgium) beat Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-3 6-3
3-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-3 6-3
12-Steve Johnson (U.S.) beat Gastao Elias (Portugal) 6-3 6-4
2-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Juan Monaco (Argentina) 6-3 6-1
Evgeny Donskoy (Russia) beat 7-David Ferrer (Spain) 3-6 7-6(1) 7-5
15-Gilles Simon (France) beat Yuichi Sugita (Japan) 7-6(3) 6-2
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4-Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat John Millman (Australia) 7-6(4) 6-4
6-Gael Monfils (France) beat Rogerio Dutra Silva (Brazil) 6-2 6-4
9-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Radu Albot (Moldova) 6-3 6-4
Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) beat 5-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 6-4 6-3
Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Joao Sousa (Portugal) 6-3 1-6 6-3
10-Roberto Bautista (Spain) beat Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) 7-6(2) 6-2
Taro Daniel (Japan) beat Kyle Edmund (Britain) 6-4 7-5
Andrej Martin (Slovakia) beat 13-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) walkover
Photo by Marianne Bevis
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