Andy Murray to go for third Olympic gold

Andy Murray, the winner in London in 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, will try for a third Olympic singles gold medal in Tokyo later this summer.

The 34-year-old, still battling for full fitness after his near-miraculous return to the Tour with a metal hip following surgery in 2019, was named in a six-strong Great Britain team for Tokyo on Thursday.

Murray given special place because of past success

As the world No 119, Murray would not normally have qualified for Tokyo. The top 56 players in the ATP and WTA rankings qualify automatically for the 64-draw Olympic events, with each team restricted to a maximum of four singles players each.

But Murray is the beneficiary of one of the eight “final qualification” places, which can include anyone who has won an Olympic gold medal or a Grand Slam singles title, providing their inclusion does not push their country’s allocation over the maximum of four.

It will be a fourth Olympics for Murray. After losing in the first round in 2008, Murray beat Roger Federer to win gold in London in 2012 and outlasted Juan Martin Del Potro in an epic final in 2016. He still believes he can compete with the world’s best when he is fully fit, but should the Scot somehow win a medal, it would be perhaps the most remarkable achievement of his career.

Murray’s inclusion, though, effectively meant that there is no place for his brother, Jamie Murray, who has won two Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles and five in mixed. Instead, Murray will play with Joe Salisbury, who won the men’s doubles title at the Australian Open in 2020 and who won mixed doubles at Roland-Garros earlier this month. Dan Evans, who will also play singles, will join forces with Neal Skupski while Cameron Norrie, ranked a career-high No 34, was not included.

Johanna Konta and Heather Watson will play singles and doubles together in the women’s events.