Olympic Men's Tennis 2016: Sunday Round-of-64 Results, Scores and Reaction
Following an entertaining opening day of tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, things kicked into high gear on the men's side Sunday, with several of the world's top players competing in both singles and doubles action.ย
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, defending Olympic singles gold medalist Andy Murray and nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal were among those scheduled to take the court in Brazil.
Here is a full rundown of Sunday's results thus far along with a recap of how the most notable matches have played out to this point.
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Men's Singles Results
| Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) | Dustin Brown (GER) | 4-6, 5-4, ret. |
| David Ferrer (ESP) | Denis Istomin (UZB) | 6-2, 6-1 |
| Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) | Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) | 7-6(4), 6-1 |
| Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) | Andrey Kuznetsov | 6-7 (4), 6-2, ret. |
| Gilles Muller (LUX) | Jerzy Janowicz (POL) | 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(10) |
| Andy Murray (GBR) | Viktor Troicki (SRB) | 6-3, 6-2 |
| Joao Sousa (POR) | Robin Haase (NED) | 6-1, 7-5 |
| Fabio Fognini (ITA) | Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) | 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-0 |
| Rafael Nadal (ESP) | Federico Delbonis (ARG) | 6-2, 6-1 |
| David Goffin (BEL) | Sam Groth (AUS) | 6-4, 6-2 |
| Benoit Paire (FRA) | Lukas Rosol (CZE) | 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| Radu Albot (MDA) | Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) | 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) | Lu Yen-Hsun (TWN) | 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) | Novak Djokovic (SRB) | 7-6(4), 7-6(2) |
| Pablo Cuevas (URU) | Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) | 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-3 |
Men's Doubles Results
| Marcelo Melo/Bruno Soares (BRA) | Sanchai Ratiwatana/Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) | 6-0, 7-6(1) |
| Jack Sock/Steve Johnson (USA) | Julio Peralta/Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI) | 6-2, 6-2 |
| Fabio Fognini/Andreas Seppi (ITA) | Illya Marchenko/Denys Molchanov (UKR) | 6-4, 6-3 |
| Daniel Nestor/Vasek Pospisil (CAN) | Marcus Daniell/Michael Venus (NZL) | 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) |
| Gastao Elias/Joao Sousa (POR) | Andrej Martin/Igor Zelenay (SVK) | 6-4, 6-2 |
| Juan-Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah (COL) | Pierre-Hughes Herbert/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) | 7-6(4), 6-3 |
| Brian Baker/Rajeev Ram (USA) | Gael Monfils/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) | 6-1, 6-4 |
| Marc Lopez/Rafael Nadal (ESP) | Robin Haase/Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Thomaz Bellucci/Andre Sa (BRA) | Andy Murray/Jamie Murray (GBR) | 7-6(6), 7-6(14) |
Recap
The first match on Sunday's slate yielded heartbreak and disappointment for one of the draw's most exciting players in Germany's Dustin Brown.
After taking the first set off Thomaz Bellucci on the Brazilian's home soil, Brown injured his ankle while charging toward the net with the score tied 4-4 in the second set.
Brown was forced to retire from the match due to the injury, and as pointed out by Lindsay Gibbs of Think Progress, the German was understandably emotional after pulling out of the tournament:
"Absolutely, positively heartbroken for Dustin Brown. Retires due to ankle injury up a set. Is in tears. Sport can be so cruel.
โ Lindsay Gibbs (@linzsports) August 7, 2016"
While Brown wasn't expected to medal, he does have a Wimbledon victory over Nadal on his resume, and he could have been a tricky opponent for some of the top players had his body not betrayed him.
Andy Murray began his Olympic gold-medal defense in outstanding fashion Sunday, as he breezed past Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-2.
The British megastar had little problem outclassing his opponent, and as Bet365ย pointed out, he is currently on a massive roll:
Murray is coming off his second Wimbledon title and third Grand Slam title overall, and a case can be made for him as the favorite to win the tournament considering his history of success at the Olympics.
Although not a favorite, David Ferrer of Spain established himself as a potential dark horse by rolling past Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in straight sets.
Gilles Muller of Luxembourg may also have an opportunity to make some noise in Rio, as he outlasted Poland's Jerzy Janowicz in perhaps the match of the day by winning a third-set tiebreaker 12-10.
Muller was the flag-bearer for Luxembourg during the opening ceremony, and while a deep run would be unexpected, the big server likely has a ton of confidence and is now battle tested.
The biggest wild card in the men's draw may very well be Nadal, who played his first match Sunday since withdrawing from the French Open due to injury in May.
Rafa looked to be in vintage form and didn't miss a beat, as he destroyed Argentina's Federico Delbonis in straight sets.
Nadal is an adept hard-court player with three Grand Slam titles between the Australian Open and U.S. Open, and he knows how to get the job done on the Olympic stage as well.
He won gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, and if his performance against Delbonis is any indication, he is very much a medal threat in Rio.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.
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