Andy Murray (Photo : Getty Images)
World No. 2 Andy Murray will have a chance to get closer to defending his crown when he meets American Steve Johnson in the quarterfinals of the men's singles category at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil.
Murray had to dig deep to defeat Fabio Fognini in the third round of the men's singles Tennis Olympics, losing eight successive games before commanding a 6-1 2-6 6-3 victory over the Italian. The win saw Murray stretch his winning streak since losing against Novak Djokovic at the French Open final in June.
"It was really, really hard out there and difficult to appreciate unless you were actually out there playing," Murray said, reports the BBC.
"Sometimes the conditions don't allow for you to play really well and the conditions didn't allow that today."
Murray has only faced Johnson once during the last year's ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Shanghai, where the Scot defeated the 22nd ranked American in the opening round of the tournament. But after cruising past Russian Evgeny Donskoy with a 6-1 6-1 triumph, Johnson could become a serious threat to Murray's hope of a second-consecutive Olympic Gold Medal.
"Any given day, you can beat anybody," 12th seed Johnson said, reports the Indian Express. "So I'll go out there with a different gameplan and the right mindset."
The winner between Murray and Johnson will advance into the semifinal stage to face either France's Gael Monfils or Japan's Kei Nishikori.
Monfils needed three sets to defeat Marin Cilic 6-7(6) 6-3 6-4, while Nishikori has yet to drop a single set at the quadrennial event, defeating Serb Wild Card Andrej Martin 6-2 6-2.
Live streaming info and score updates
Watch 2016 Rio Olympics tennis men's singles: Andy Murray vs Steve Johnson live via NBC. Live score updates will be available during game days at ATP World Tour's official website.
