Murray claims epic 2nd gold

RIO DE JANEIRO — Andy Murray became the first player to win two Olympic tennis singles gold medals Sunday when he defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in an epic final. Murray added the Rio title to his 2012 triumph and to his Grand Slam collection of the 2012 US Open and 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon crowns. It also stretched the 29-year-old’s current winning streak to a career best 18. The final will go down as one of the best in the Olympics, lasting over four hours and ending with both men embracing at the net. Del Potro, a bronze medalist in London four years ago, was inconsolable, weeping as he sat courtside. “Today was a very up and down match, very stressful. Both of us had a lot of chances and, it was a long and tiring match. I’m just glad I managed to get through it,” said Murray. “I had a lot of difficult losses over the last couple of years. I lost quite a few Grand Slam finals. I managed to obviously win a couple of big events and that meant a lot to me.” The final was decided in a dramatic fourth set where del Potro was ahead twice with breaks to go 2-1 and 4-3 ahead. But each time he faltered and Murray pounced. The Briton saved two break points for a 6-5 lead. In a thrilling conclusion, two Argentine fans were even escorted out of the arena before Murray took victory on a second match point when del Potro netted a backhand. Venus Williams, Martina Hingis and Rafael Nadal all suffered letdowns as the tennis tournament ended. Venus, 36, missed out on her chance to become the first player to win five tennis golds when she and partner Rajeev Ram were defeated in the mixed doubles final. They lost 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 10-7 to US compatriots Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock. Venus won singles gold at Sydney in 2000 and doubles titles with sister Serena in 2000, 2008 and 2012. Despite the loss, she is still only the second player to have won five tennis medals after already being guaranteed silver by making the final. Hingis, 35, and playing her first Olympics since her debut in Atlanta in 1996, saw her gold medal hopes shattered in the women’s doubles final. She and Swiss partner Timea Bacsinszky lost to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-4. Kei Nishikori won Japan’s first Olympic tennis medal in almost a century when he captured bronze against Nadal, despite the weary Spaniard mounting a stirring mid-match fightback. Nishikori triumphed 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 to become the first Japanese tennis medallist since Antwerp in 1920 when the country won men’s silver and men’s doubles silver. Earlier Sunday, Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic needed just 71 minutes to claim bronze, defeating India’s Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna 6-1, 7-5.