Tokyo 2020: Andy Murray seeking his ‘best achievement’ of third Olympic gold against the odds

A double Olympic gold medalist – but can he upset the odds for a third?

Murray faces a difficult opening round singles match in Tokyo (Getty Images)

The Olympic Games may not be regarded as an outright measure of top-bracket excellence in tennis. But for Andy Murray, they carry a greater meaning for the combination of achievement and historical markers in his career.

London 2012 was the Eureka moment. A first major title just a few weeks after losing the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, who he beat to gold in straight sets on a Centre Court in Olympic branding. The duck broken, he went on to win the US Open later that year. Wimbledon would follow in 2013.

Rio 2016 can be regarded as the legend-sealer. Fresh from his second Wimbledon, he went to Brazil and became the first man to win two singles golds and successfully defend an Olympic title. That November he reached the top of the world rankings.

So, what of Tokyo 2021? Like the previous two games, only hindsight will allow us to attribute an appropriate moniker. But with Murray now 34, arriving off the back of a chastening third-round defeat to Denis Shapovalov at Wimbledon and wearing a No 104 rank like a boxer nursing unhealing wounds after a few fights too many, there is the feel of “conclusion”. That the years, that damn hip and the talent rising around him will finally be too much.

That felt reinforced when Thursday’s Olympic draw pitted him against ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, the swish 20-year-old Canadian who earlier this month made it to the quarter-finals at the All England Club. The pair have only met once, at Flushing Meadows last year, with Murray beaten with ease. There is also the prospect of French duo Pierre Hugues-Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the doubles as he partners with Joe Salisbury. Murray previously won silver in 2012’s mixed doubles with Laura Robson.

On the eve of his fourth games – he lost in the first round of Beijing 2008 aged 21 – it was only natural to ask Murray what he looked to achieve. Success over the last few years had ranged from getting on the court to simply, competing. For a player who has never needed to bend to the whims of narrative or hyperbole, his response when the prospect of a medal was put to him suggests he is not simply here just to play.

“For me, it would be probably my best achievement. If I could do that after everything that’s gone on the last years and stuff,” he told the assembled media on Thursday. “I’m motivated for that reason alone. I still believe I can do that. I still believe that it’s possible.”

It echoes his words immediately after that 2012 success, stating unequivocally that it was “the biggest win of my life”. It was – both at the time and with regards to the places he would go. This time, reaching the podium and wearing any colour around his neck will be a statement at odds to where he has been. The mental and physical lows of rehab and botched comebacks made worthwhile by one (last?) tournament victory.

“There have been difficult moments obviously in the last few months, in the last year and everything with the injuries and stuff. But right now, this is the healthiest I have been for the longest period. In the last year I got to practice way more than I had been in the build-up to the grass at Wimbledon and everything. I’m getting better and I’m improving and hopefully, it stays that way through to the end of the year.

“It’s going to be hard. But if you want to win medals, you are going to have to beat top players. And because of my ranking and stuff, I have to play high-ranked players earlier in tournaments. Mentally I’ve prepared for that. Obviously if you can get through a top player early, that can open the draw up a little bit. Certainly not easy first matches, but yeah, can also win those matches as well. So let’s see what happens.”

Of course, a man with 46 career titles, who has single-handedly raised the level and profile of British tennis, has nothing to prove to the game. Not even, really, to himself, beyond the personal pride of knowing the intensity remains in the bones and touch still courses through those wrists. Though it seems the oldest of his four children, Sophia, may need convincing.

“When I got home, the day after my match (third-round defeat at Wimbledon), my daughter said to me, ‘Oh daddy, you’re home because you lost another tennis match!’ I said to her, ‘Yeah, I did. What do you do when you lose something?’ And she said, ‘you try and try again.’ And I was like, yeah, that’s what I want to do. I want to keep playing because I enjoy it. I still think I can play at a good level, at a high level.”

“Try and try again” is basically Murray’s super strength. And as self-aware as he is regarding his body’s limitations, the frustration still clearly burns deep, singeing his insides. He even acknowledges that well-meaning questions about how he is shaping up come with the familiar tone reserved for those in the final stages of sporting life.

Winning an Olympic medal would arguably be Murray’s greatest achievement in tennis (AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s like with each major tournament that passes, and again here pre-Olympics, when I’m getting asked questions, a lot of it is kind of about the future. Naturally from that, and also when I’ve not performed as well as I would have liked to, yeah, you’re going to question things and doubt yourself a little bit.”

Perhaps these games do not just matter more to Murray, but specifically more to this iteration of Murray than the ones of 2012 and 2016. Even 2008. Those Murrays knew a medal of any kind was expected. This time, he concedes, that is not the case.

“I want to go out there and leave everything out on the court. Fight for every single point. Ultimately that’s all you can do - you can never guarantee how you are going to perform in matches. But you can control your attitude, you can control your effort levels, you can control how well you prepare and everything. I’ll take care of all of those things and I hope that the performances follow.”

Many have come unstuck calling time on Murray’s career prematurely. Thus, holding fire on talk that Tokyo 2021 will be the final bookend might just fall on the side of wisdom rather than flagrantly ignoring the evidence in front of us. A more certain call is that Tokyo could well be his last Olympics. And that Saturday, when he begins in the doubles, along with whatever challenges arise over the next fortnight, will be approached as such.