Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray had a successful start to his Olympic campaign yesterday but it ended it in defeat.
The British number one, who resides in Wimbledon, emerged victorious against Serbian Viktor Troicki in his opening men’s singles tennis match winning in two sets, 6-3, 6-2.
The second seed is hot favourite to win another Olympic gold following the departure of men’s number one Novak Djokovic beaten 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) by Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.
Murray said: “I am not defending a gold medal (from London 2012), I will always keep my gold medal, that is always going to be there – I don’t have to give it back.
“It is more trying to win another medal that build the pressure and wanting to do something here – that is the pressure I am putting on myself.”
Unfortunately for Murray, the winning streak didn’t last when he paired up with brother Jamie Murray for the men’s doubles against Brazilian pair Thomas Bellucci and Andre Sa.
Despite an extraordinary second set tie-break enabling them to save six match points, the Murray brothers lost 7-6.
Croydon resident Josh Buatsi beat Uganda’s Kennedy Katende as he made his Olympic debut in the boxing light-heavyweight category.
The 23-year-old halted his experienced opponents efforts in the third round to gain his first stoppage win of the games.
Buatsi said: “It’s a good start and I’ve been told that I got the first knockout of the competition so it is great to get that.
“He’s a very experienced guy but I’ve been training hard and wouldn’t let him stop me.
“He’s considerably more experienced than me so to stop an opponent like that is a great confidence boost.”
Wandsworth’s Emma Pooley embarked on the strenuous and dramatic road race.
The women’s 136.9km road race began with slightly overcast conditions and more wind than the men faced the previous day.
Elsewhere, the women’s rugby sevens gathered momentum as St Mary’s University alumni Alice Richardson’s try helped GB into the semi-finals following a 26-7 victory over Fiji.
The team will now face New Zealand tonight in the semi-finals, who knocked out USA in their quarter-final.
If Great Britain win the semi-final they’ll meet either Australia or Canada, who the team beat 22-0 in their final group game, in tonight’s final.
In the men’s hockey, Great Britain are yet to secure a win, after drawing 2-2 with New Zealand yesterday.
Croydon-born Henry Weir and Wimbledon players Michael Hoare, Ian Sloan and James Bailey feature in the squad.
Wimbledon’s Alastair Brogdon was forced to withdraw from the games after breaking a finger on his left hand during Great Britain’s 4-1 defeat over Belgium.
They’ll play host nation Brazil on Tuesday, come up against world champions Australia on Wednesday, before their group stage finishes against Spain on Friday.
Captain Barry Middleton said: “We just lacked the little bit of quality that makes the difference in these big games.
“In the final third we just lacked that little link that meant we could create some flowing moves.”
Team GB’s women’s hockey campaign also got underway yesterday with a 2-1 win over Australia.
Surbiton players Giselle Ansley, Georgie Twigg and Hollie Webb are out in Rio with the team, who will face India in their second match tonight.
Unfortunately the race proved too much for Pooley, who dropped out at 113km, unable to finish alongside 14 fellow cyclists.
Team GB’s rowers were left disappointed after all rowing races were postponed due to high winds at the Lagoa Stadium in Rio.
Surbiton resident Mohamed Sbihi and Molesey Boat Club member George Nash were expected to compete in the men’s coxless four, alongside team mates Alex Gregory and Constantine Louloudis.
Today will now see a bumper schedule with eight British boats set to race, with Nash and Sbihi racing at 5pm.
Twickenham’s John Collins, who makes up one half of the men’s double sculls, will take to the water at 2:50pm alongside teammate Jonny Walton.
Mark Aldred, a member of the London Rowing Club, will join Chris Bartley, Peter Chambers and Jonathan (Jono) Clegg in the rowing men’s lightweight four.
The events were originally delayed by two hours before eventually being called off and rescheduled.
Speaking about the decision to cancel the races for that day and the attitude of the rowers, team leader Sir David Tanner said: “We’ll be resilient. Our attitude is very simple, we’ll handle it best, and that’s it.
“We’re ready to race whenever we need to race and we’ll get out there and do it.
“What you don’t want to be doing is racing on that water today. I absolutely support it. I absolutely support it.
“We definitely, definitely shouldn’t be racing in these conditions.”
