Tokyo 2020 - Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury dig deep to beat Germany's Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz

ByCoral Barry

Updated 27/07/2021 at 10:20 GMT

Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury march on in the Olympics after a straight sets victory over Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz. The British duo are quickly establishing themselves as serious contenders for a medal at Tokyo 2020, but were made to work for their latest win after rain delays and a late fight-back from the German duo.

Team GB’s Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury dug deep to book their place in the next round of the Olympics.

The British stars beat Germany’s Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz 6-2 7-6 (7-2) in straight sets after successfully contending with rain delays, weather interruptions and a late fight-back from their opponents.

Murray and Salisbury were hugely impressive in their first-round win over the number two seeds and the Brits continued their form against Putz and Krawietz.

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Team GB began strongly, breaking their German opponents in the first game of the match and raced into a 2-1 lead before being forced off the court.

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Rain had delayed the start of the match and the weather interrupted the clash after just 14 minutes of play.

The tennis stars eventually re-emerged after a lengthy delay and Murray and his doubles partner were immediately put under pressure, forced to save two break points in their first game back.

Murray and Salisbury continued to grow in confidence, breaking their rivals in seventh game to give themselves an opportunity to serve for the set.

Salisbury, who took over the serving duties after the enforced break, did just that for Team GB as he and Murray clinched in the first set in 35 minutes.

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The first set was mostly won on the dominance of Salisbury’s serve, but Murray and his partner also hit 16 winners compared to their opponents’ seven.

Murray and Salisbury began strongly in the second set, continuing to challenge Putz on his service game. The Germans successfully defended two break points in the first game and then enjoyed a rare shut-out in their next service game.

And it was then the Germans staged an attempted comeback, refusing to wilt as they had done in the first set by defending two more break points in the seventh game.

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The Brits made sure the second set went to a tie-break and quickly established a 4-1 lead before a superb ace from Salisbury extended their advantage just before the change-over.

Two brilliant returns from Murray and then Salisbury then made sure of the win and the British pair will face Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig or American duo Rajeev Ram and Frances Taifoe in the next round.

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