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, 6-3in 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:
Andy Murray & Fabio Fognini time
Fognini is 1 of only 2 men to beat Murray in Davis Cup singles: wonder what he has in store for us today.