Last Updated on October 30, 2021
Andy Murray, thanks to the wild card reserved for athletes capable of winning at least one gold medal in the past, will participate in the Tokyo Olympics and will try to repeat the feat achieved at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.
The former world number one has always represented his country with honor and again this year, despite the absence of the public and the strict restrictions set by the Japanese government, he will take the court without any problems.
Andy Murray: “I can’t wait to play in Tokyo”
“The Olympic Games mean a lot to me. For the second time I’ll be participating as defending champion and it’s really exciting,” Murray said in an interview with the tournament press service.
I really want to play and give it my all. The Olympics is the most important competition in the world: as athletes, we train hard to live moments like this. On a personal level, my goal is to try and win a medal for my country.
The ideal would be to win the gold one” Jamie Delgado, Murray’s current coach, spoke about his student and his latest performance at Wimbledon. “He reacted very well physically in Wimbledon because he was able to play three matches in best of five sets, something he hasn’t done in a long time.
We’re happy with what he achieved. People know how much Murray loves tennis and how much he wants to win. He has done a lot for British tennis and for the sport of his country in general.”
You may not know this, but the Olympics is missing some of its most famous players. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios, Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner will be absent from the Olympic competition due to previous injuries or need time to fully recover from the tournaments.
In addition to the injury issue, many players have decided not to travel to Tokyo because of the restrictions and the absence of the public; factors that will greatly affect the show and the performance of the athletes. The only one of the Big 3 who chose to play the Olympics was Novak Djokovic.
A strong opponent in the first round
In the first round, Andy Murray will face a younger opponent Felix Auger Aliassime from Canada. Felix is in good form this season, recently reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, semifinals at Halle and reached the final in Stuttgart.
They met last year at the US Open, then Felix Auger easily defeated the Englishman in three sets, 6/2, 6/3, 6/4.
#Tokyo2020: @andy_murray will have a challenging start to his gold medal defence against 9th seed Félix Auger-Aliassime CAN WR 15 (=CH), who beat him in 3 sets in R2 at least year’s US Open, while @Liambroady will play Francisco Cerúndolo ARG WR 116 (CH 112 in Mar) https://t.co/8I6QbP0dtf
— Steven (@GBtennis) July 22, 2021
