Rio 2016 Olympics: Andy Murray beats Juan Martin del Potro to defend title

Andy Murray has become the first tennis player in history to defend their Olympic title after a four sets victory over Juan Martin del Potro at Rio 2016.

Murray triumphed 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5 in just over four hours as added Rio 2016 gold to his London 2012 singles victory and mixed doubles silver.

The gold completes a memorable Games for the 29-year-old, who led Team GB into the Opening Ceremony after being nominated Flagbearer – the first British tennis player to do so.

“Carrying the flag was an amazing experience and I found it quite emotional,” said Murray.

“The day after I had to regroup and get my mind on the matches so to finish it with a match like that was very emotional too. I’m just very happy that I got over the line tonight.

“Tonight was one of the hardest matches that I’ve had to play for a big title. I think the US Open final when I played Novak to win my first slam was very hard but tonight I found it really difficult. Emotionally it was tough, physically it was hard with so many ups and downs in the match.

“At the time London was the first time I had won a major event and it was a home Olympics. It was an amazing couple of weeks after losing the Wimbledon final just a few weeks before but as I say this was much harder than London. The match there was much more straightforward in terms of the score line but tonight anything could have happened. This one means a lot.

“The fact that it [winning two Olympic gold medals] has never been done before shows it’s a very difficult thing to do and I’m very proud to have been the first one to have done it.

“It’s not easy especially in four years for a tennis player. I’ve had back surgery since London and so many things can change – my ranking dropped and I’ve gone through some tough times off the court, so I’m happy that I’m still here competing for the big events.”