What a scrap we witnessed at the Olympic Tennis Stadium on Sunday night.
The players’ sheer desire has surely squashed any doubts over tennis’s rightful place at these Games, and Andy Murray hasn’t just hit the ball better than anyone else over the past week. He has also showed off the intensity of his passion.
Murray outlasted Juan Martin del Potro in a 4hr 2min dogfight, a match so physical that it could have been staged alongside the judo and the taekwondo in the Carioca Arena. Admittedly, he probably had fewer miles in his legs coming in, having made short work of Kei Nishikori on Saturday while Del Potro contested another epic against Rafael Nadal. But then Murray had played three doubles matches as well. He needed every ounce of his innate stubbornness to come through by a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 margin.
It was a scrappy match but an utterly compelling one. At times you wondered who would stagger over the line first, because Murray never quite had his full kitbag of shots working cleanly. In the first set, his serve was as notable an absentee as Pele at the torch-lighting ceremony. Even when he managed to locate it, for periods of the second set, he promptly lost power to his legs instead. Closing out a title had never seemed so agonising.
“Tonight's one of the hardest matches I've had to play for a big title,” said Murray afterwards. “The US Open final when I played Novak and won my first slam was very hard, but tonight I found it really difficult. Emotionally it was tough, physically it was hard. There were so many ups and downs in the match.”
If Max Whitlock could win two gold medals in a couple of hours at the gymnastics, Murray somehow felt short-changed with only one. Not even the marathon runners have to work hours like this.
The match was only around 30 minutes old when Del Potro started puffing hard, and going on little walkabouts between points. But each time he bolted down an energy gel at a changeover, he found another burst of inspiration. Meanwhile the match was turning into a battle of brains as well as stamina as Murray tried to avoid Del Potro’s earth-shaking forehand – which stands unrivalled as the most powerful groundstroke in the game – and locate his less lethal backhand instead.
At one stage in the fourth set we entered a parallel universe where Del Potro was dinking the ball back with backspin off both wings as Murray moved him around with chess-like slices of his own. It was another example of Murray’s MacGyver-like ability to find solutions on the hoof, which has dug him out of so many awkward spots in the past.
The Olympic Tennis Stadium should have been renamed the Sweatbox, so badly were both players struggling in the humid conditions. But this was one of the best atmospheres, and most committed crowds, of the whole Games.
Murray has never been an honorary Brazilian before. But by playing an Argentine in the Olympic final he collected some of the most passionate support that he can ever have experienced overseas. A nearly full stadium created a derby-day atmosphere, complete with scores of flags. Four points before the end, one over-zealous Argentine supporter in a blue-and-white jester’s hat had to be escorted out of the arena by soldiers, prompting pantomime booing as he held his arms up in mock triumph.
That fourth set was mind-boggling. There were seven breaks of serve in the 12 games and one extraordinary statement point from Murray which saw both men cover all 2,800 square feet before he finally came up with a winning pass, leaving Del Potro bent double over the net. You could tell, at that moment, that he was fully locked onto his target.
After the match had ended via a netted backhand from Del Potro – probably the commonest conclusion to these 269 breathless rallies – both men met at the net in a damp and emotional embrace. Murray then took to his chair and heaved huge sobs into his towel, while del Potro did not bother to hide his tears, his face by now turning puce with exhaustion and emotion.
Even amid the all-round mastery of Team GB, Murray stands out from the Stella McCartney-clad crowd. This is a man who has already peaked at least three times in 2016, reaching the finals of each of the grand slams and lifting the Wimbledon crown. But he was desperate to deliver for the team, particularly after his central role at the opening ceremony.
“Getting to carry the flag was an amazing experience,” he reiterated last night. “It's a great honour to get the opportunity to do that. I found that quite emotional. After the day I did it, I sort of had to regroup and get my mind on the matches. A match like that [tonight] as well, the build-up the last 10 days or so, it's been very emotional. I'm just very happy to have got over the line. I'm so tired.”
Would he be showing the film to his daughter Sophia – who is still only six months old – in the future? He smiled. “I don't know to be honest. When she's old enough I'll try to tell what I've done in my job, if you can call it that. I'm sure there'll be some videos somewhere so I can show her some of the matches – if she's interested. Maybe she won't be. A lot of the tennis players that I've spoken to have children, and they're more interested in the other players than in their fathers.”
Murray has just made history, again, by becoming the first singles player to claim two golds, and the debate will surely start again over his place in the pantheon of British sport.
“The fact it hasn't been done before shows that it's very hard,” said Murray,“so I'm very proud to have been the first one. It hasn't been easy because a lot can happen in four years. I had back surgery since London, my ranking dropped a lot during that period, and I've gone through some tough times on the court as well. Happily I'm still here to compete at the biggest event. I'll try to keep going. Who knows about Tokyo? If I'm still playing in four years when I'm 33. I don't imagine I'll be playing the same level as now, but I'll enjoy tonight's win.”
Murray has grown up in an age of giants, and now that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have started to fray physically, he is beginning to impose himself on the tour as never before. His win yesterday was his 18th on the bounce, a new personal best by some margin, and a better run than even the super-consistent Djokovic has managed this season.
It was horribly gruelling, though, in a manner that made you wonder about the wisdom of playing a best-of-five final at the back end of a week-long event. The rest day that should have preceded the final was wiped out by all the sessions that were lost to rain. Goodness knows how – or indeed if - Murray will pick himself up in time for next week’s Masters event in Cincinnati.
“Yes, this means a lot,” he said. “But I won't get to enjoy it as much, as I've got to play another match in 48 hours, unfortunately.”
Medal ceremony
Here the three men come, Kei Nishikori takes bronze after his win over Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro gets silver, and Andy Murray of course takes home gold.
Big cheers for all three men, but quite possibly the biggest cheer for del Potro, with all of Argentina's supporters remaining on Centre Court to celebrate his achievement.
Another superb day
A fifth gold for Great Britain
What an incredible day it has been for Team GB at the Rio Olympics.
Andy Murray's four set victory over Del Potro means Great Britain has won no fewer than five gold medals today.
Max Whitlock of course became a double Olympic medalist earlier today, Justin Rose won in the golf, and Jason Kenny beat his team mate Callum Skinner in the cycling sprint title.
Factor in Giles Scott's victory too - the Finn class sailor guaranteed himself a gold medal tomorrow - and it's been an almost unprecedented day of British success.
The medal ceremony will follow very shortly
Both men have disappeared from court for the time being. Both were in tears.
What a night.
Some reaction
Even Robert Snodgrass is loving it.
Andy Murray is Olympic champion!
He becomes the first tennis player ever to win back to back Olympic titles, and after a long embrace with Del Potro at the net, he promptly collapses into tears.
Del Potro cannot hold back the tears either. He gave it his all. What an incredible match.
Murray 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 Del Potro
Here we go...
And despite the fatigue, despite the cramp, and despite the late stage of this match - Del Porto still possesses a formidable power. He brutalises Murray at the back of the court and wins the point when his ailing opponent tamely dollies one into the net. 15-0.
Now it's Murray's time to demonstrate his endurance. He charges into the net to put Del Potro under pressure, reaches the attempted passing shot, and somehow fashions a winner. 15-all.
Murray really fancies the next return, which drops a little short from Del Potro, but he's too eager to make his opponent pay and slams it wide. A let off. But then Del Potro makes a mistake of his own, stumbling a wee bit and sending his sliced return too low, which levels things up. 30-all.
Blimey, the next point is unfortunate. Murray is all over Del Potro and has him where he wants him floundering at the back of the court. At the opportune moment, he executes the drop shot, but as he goes to play it somebody in the crowd yells out. Murray trips and blows it, before glaring angrily into the distance. A let off. But Del Po tiredly hits his next shot long, and we're at deuce!
And now an Argentinian fan has been told to get up and leave! It's all kicking off out there, I think it's the fan who yelled out moments before. He's wearing an Argentinian shirt and is given an enthusiastic send off by his compatriots.
We eventually resume, only for Del Potro to smash a forehand beyond the baseline! A gold medal point for Murray, can he convert? No! His forehand return is absolutely garbage, and it plops harmlessly into the net.
Deuce then. But not for long, this time Murray absolutely creams his return and it's Del Potro's turn to tiredly hit into the net.
A second tournament point for Murray. His return is good, and he quickly seizes the initiative in the rally. Del Potro is at the back of the court and floundering, and his sliced return is too flat, he's netted it!
Andy Murray has won! He is the Olympic champion!
Murray 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-5 Del Potro* (*Denotes next server)
This ain't over yet! Del Potro cracks a gunshot forehand right across Murray and can't help but smile at his opponent's exasperated expression. The Argentinian fans go loopy. They go loopier still when Murray hits his next shot long. 0-30.
Drama on the next point! Del Potro's forehand is called long when it is clearly on the line, only to be overruled by the Umpire. Murray challenges and is quickly proved wrong, and he's now out of challenges, which could prove crucial later on down the line.
Murray with a lot of work to do then, 0-30 and clinging on. He bravely charges the net on the next point, and easily reaches Del Potro's attempted lob, smashing it back past the reach of his rival. Nice. He tries it again on the next point but this time it goes horribly wrong, and he leaves acres of space for Del Potro to fire a passing shot down. Two break points for Del Po!
He spurns the first with an ungainly blast into the net. And Murray defends the second with his ninth ace. Deuce. And then another wins him the advantage! The pressure is on, but he gets the better of Del Po in the rally, forcing him out wide and then pumping the air with a newfound energy when his opponent fails to clear the net.
