Andy Murray and Heather Watson through in straight sets, but looks like his brother and Konta are out.
How much rest is Andy Murray going to get between the Olympics and the US Open should he go all the way in Brazil?
Seeing as GB hardly play together we did well to get a silver. Shame the various governing bodies can't sort rugby out properly.
Given how well the Rugby Sevens has been received on this and other boards, more coverage should be given on terrestrial TV to this. It has been much more watchable than the turgidity offered by the Euro 16 football tournament.
GB unfortunately seemed to pass too much in front of Fiji, meaning the Fijians could shift their defensive line across, until the last man on the GB line was forced to go into contact without support. Fiji were fantastic at engaging their opponent, often requiring 2 to stop them, and then ofloading. This meant that after 2 or 3 hits there was always an overlap or free man for them attacking. Something for the other teams to learn from for next time hopefully!
Murray really loves the Olympics, so I don't suppose he will care if he wins again. He dropped one tournament before the Olympics so he would be ready. Perhaps he's wise enough to know that you only need so much money. You can't beat having an Olympic medal....makes you a hero in people's eyes, even if it was for tiddlywinks.
The Olympic final is this Sunday and the US Open starts on the 29th. More than enough time for someone like Andy (and Novak and Rafa) to recover, especially as the Olympics is 3 sets not 5. I can't see Andy and Heather getting to the mixed doubles final to be honest so in many ways it's just like an ordinary tour tournament for him.
Correct me Fran, but is this Andy's first tournament since Wimbledon? And Djoko has only played one, so the players will be either rusty or well rested.
I'm not Fran but yes, this is Andy's first tournament since winning Wimbledon and it wouldn't surprise me that Novak only played that tournament a couple of weeks ago because he lost early (for him!) at Wimbledon. Players of this calibre and at their fitness levels don't get rusty after just a couple of weeks and two weeks between the Olympics and the US Open is perfect. Queens is two weeks before Wimbledon and certainly isn't detrimental to the players but is what they expect.
Sorry Helen for getting your name wrong!! Murray seems to be playing a game where he is pacing himself so much better than when he was a rash youth and not just in this particular tournament. I have a feeling he will win more GSs the other side of 30 than he has done to date due to his style of play. And as Djoko has played such a high intensity game so far in his career, do you think he may have peaked thus enabling Andy to win several more GSs? ,
No, you were right - you replied to Fran but I stuck my nose in I think one of the best things to happen to Andy was to finally get his back sorted. Rafa is on the outs, as is Federer and even Novak is now starting to complain about various injuries - I don't think he's peaked necessarily but that his body is now fighting back! Andy is strong and as long as he stays fit and healthy I totally agree with you that there are more GSs to come. The question is how strongly the "young pretenders" come through. I'm not convinced about Kyrgios, Raonic is going to be top (or thereabouts), I haven't seen enough of Zverev to decide but Thiem is definitely one for the future. Exciting times!
One of the funniest things, I have seen in a sevens game, was a few years ago. A smallish player went across the try line and instead of diving, casually bent over to touch the ball down. He over estimated how much time he had, because, before the ball made contact with the turf a big defender physically picked him up, and carried him back into the open field, before dumping him, unceremoniously, in a heap.
Shame the final was a washout as a spectacle (unless you were Fijian ), but the silver was a great achievement for the GB team as they weren't expected to get that far.
