It was a repeat of the Rio Olympic men’s singles match for the gold as Great Britain’s Andy Murray faced Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro in their Davis Cup singles match on Friday. However, this time the result was different.
Del Porto beat Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in a match that went on for five hours and seven minutes. It was the second singles of the semi-final tie between Great Britain and Argentina, being played at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. Murray's defeat means that holders Great Britain are now down 0-2, with Gudio Pella of Argentina beating Kyle Edmund 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the first singles.
Murray came into the match after being upset in the quarter-final of the US Open by Kei Nishikori of Japan 10 days ago. Murray has already had a long tennis season, which saw him win Wimbledon and the Olympic gold.
Looking drained even before he began, Murray lost the first set 6-4. He clawed back to win the second and third sets 5-7, 6-7(5), respectively, but ran out of steam to lose the fourth set 6-3 and the decider, 6-4. The match happened to be Murray’s longest in a career spanning nearly 11 years.
All eyes will now be on the Murray brothers, Andy and Jamie, in the doubles encounter on Saturday.
France and Croatia are tied 1-1 in the other semi-final.