Andy Murray vs. Fabio Fognini: Score and Reaction from 2016 Olympics

Andy Murray's pursuit of his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in men's singles tennis continued Thursday, as he survived a tough battle with Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 in the round of 16. 

With the win, Murray moves on to face American Steve Johnson in what could be a difficult quarterfinal match due to Johnson's excellent form thus far in Rio de Janeiro.

Despite Murray's struggles at times Thursday, he likely remains the player to beat since he is coming off the second Wimbledon title of his career.

While Murray entered the round of 16 as an overwhelming favorite, BBC's Russell Fuller pointed out that Thursday's match was a tricky one due to Fognini's past success against the three-time Grand Slam champion in international play:

That fact didn't seem to impact Murray's psyche in the early going, as he came flying out of the gates and won the first five games of the match to put the Italian on the ropes early.

Fuller observed that Fognini didn't appear engaged after enduring an all-out attack from Murray in the match's opening stages:

Murray had a chance to saddle Fognini with a first-set bagel, but the underdog managed to avoid that by holding serve for the first time in the match.

It took less than a half hour for the Brit to take a 1-0 lead in sets; however, Live Tennis suggested that Fognini may have gotten himself a little momentum by finally winning a game:

"

#Murray grabs the 1st set 6-1 in 29 minutes. Vague signs of life from a generally woeful #Fognini towards the end. pic.twitter.com/N8B2aL7xf6

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) August 11, 2016"

Although the opening set was largely a nightmare for Fognini, there may have been something to the theory that getting on the board energized him.

Murray went up a break early in the second set and had a chance to take a 3-1 lead on serve, but Fognini earned his first break of the match and then proceeded to go on an impressive run that included a hold and then a second break of Murray to seize a 4-2 advantage.

Fognini's sudden surge took many by surprise, including Dan King of the Sun:

Murray quickly went up 30-0 during Fognini's next service game and had a golden opportunity to move toward leveling the set back up, but the Italian dug deep for the hold and moved to within one game of forcing a decisive third set.

Fognini somewhat shockingly followed that up with another break of Murray's serve to win the set 6-2 and put the top remaining seed in the tournament in a tough spot.

As seen in this photo, courtesy of British Tennis, Murray was visibly frustrated at the reality of being pushed to a third set:

Fognini held serve to open the third set, which was followed by a marathon second game with Murray on serve.

The Italian earned three break points due in large part to some nifty drop shots, and he finally cashed in to take a 2-0 lead in the final set.

Matt Zemek of FanRag Sports was among those who applauded Fognini's ability to turn things around when he seemed down and out:

According to BBC's David Law, Fognini's penchant for bouncing back against Murray was nothing new:

Fognini went up 3-0 before Murray finally held serve to get on the board in the third. The Italian had an opportunity to erase that with a hold of his own, but the momentum started to shift when the Brit broke back.

Per Rahul Vaidyanath of the Epoch Times, Fognini's volatility began to work against him as he began to make some costly mistakes:

With Murray back on serve a 2-3, he held comfortably to even the decisive set back up and once again put himself in position to potentially advance to the quarters.

Thursday's match was defined by huge runs and swings of momentum, and the positive vibes were back in Murray's favor after he reeled off three straight games.

The Brit used that to his advantage to break Fognini and take a 4-3 lead, which he had an opportunity to extend on serve.

Murray did precisely that, and Law noted there was a 180-degree turn in Fognini's attitude and demeanor:

With Fognini down and out, Murray sealed the deal with another break and narrowly escaped his biggest scare of the tournament.

Murray will enter his quarterfinal match against Johnson as the favorite despite his issues against Fognini, but he looks vulnerable.

Although his level of competition hasn't been particularly high, Johnson has arguably been the most impressive player in the men's singles draw in Rio thus far, and he promises to be fresher than Murray after the Brit was pushed to three sets.

The 2016 Summer Olympics have been riddled with upsets of top players such as Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams thus far, but Murray's fight and determination prevented him from joining that group Thursday and kept his hopes of being the first repeat gold medalist in Olympic men's singles tennis alive.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.