Last updated: 31/07/2012

Andy Murray cruises into Olympics singles third round

Andy Murray is into the third round of the singles event at the Olympic Games after a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jarkko Nieminen at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

The British No.1 was in imperious form as he swept aside his Finnish opponent in just 61 minutes on Centre Court to set up a round three match against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

"I played well," said Murray afterwards. "I started the match off well. I lost concentration a bit at the end of the second set, I had a few chances to go up a couple of breaks and I missed a few shots but when you play in front of packed crowds it helps.

"When it's home support and it's with you it helps, it helps a lot. The atmosphere has been great since the first match of the tennis. Hopefully I can keep going because it's fun to play in an atmosphere like this."

The fourth match of the day on Centre Court saw 18 year old Laura Robson taking on world No.3 Maria Sharapova in their women's singles second round match.

Despite a valiant effort amongst strong home support the British No.3 was unable to come through, narrowly beaten 7-6(5), 6-3 by her Russian opponent.

"I had my chances," said a disappointed Robson after the match. "I think it was the same score as last time I played her here but I felt that this one was a lot closer."

However the Olympics are not over from Robson as it was announced on Tuesday that she will partner Andy Murray as the sole pair to represent GB in the mixed doubles event which starts on Wednesday.

The pair, who have played together before in the Hopman Cup, will play the Czech Republic duo of Radek Stepanek & Lucie Hradecka in round one of the draw which features just 16 players.

Robson went on: "It should be really fun playing with Andy. It's definitely going to be tough but I think we're both pretty good doubles players, so who knows."

Murray commented on his entry into the mixed doubles: "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try to win a medal at your home Games. I wanted to give myself the best chance at that. That was why I wanted to play mixed.

"In terms of our chances it will be tough. I mean, mixed is something I haven't played that much of in the past. It's going to be a challenge, but if we play well then we've got a chance of winning matches."

The final Briton of the day on court was Heather Watson who took on another Russian Maria, the world No.15, Kirilenko, but lost out 6-3, 6-2 after an hour and 26 minutes.

A teary Watson said afterwards: "It was tough today. Maria played really well, she doesn’t give anything away. She made me play that extra ball, I wasn’t aggressive enough and consistent enough.

"It hurts that I’ve lost because this is my first Olympics, it only comes around once. The support was amazing, I feel like I’ve let everybody there down as well but it was tough, I gave it my everything."

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Day 4 - News

Record breaking epic

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic broke Olympic records with an incredible second round encounter on Court 1. The French fifth seed eventually came through the thriller 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 with the three hour final set being the longest in Olympic tennis history. The 66 games were also the most in an Olympic tennis match.

Big Names

Second seed Novak Djokovic swept past Andy Roddick 6-2, 6-1 in less than an hour while there was also a comfortable win for 4th seed David Ferrer. In the Women's draw top seed Victoria Azarenka eased through to round three while Venus Williams and 7th seed Angelique Kerber set up a third round clash with confident displays.

Minor Upsets

Some of the lower seeds were sent packing on Day 4 with former World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt leading the way with a 6-4, 7-5 upset of in-form 13th seed Marin Cilic. Marcos Baghdatis overcame 16th seed Richard Gasquet while Feliciano Lopez had too much grass court prowess for 9th seed Juan Monaco.