RIO DE JANEIRO: Defen­ding champion Andy Murray raced into the Olympic Games third round on Tuesday, blitzing close friend Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 6-1.

World number two Murray is looking to make the most of the shock opening round exit of top seed Novak Djokovic and become the first man to win two singles golds.

The 29-year-old Wimble­don champion, who has not lost to Monaco in six years, will face France’s Benoit Paire, the 16th seed, or Fabio Fognini of Italy for a quarter-final spot.

Murray was hardly troubled by Monaco on centre court.

The Argentine never fully recovered from a fall in the second game of the opening set where he aggravated a long-standing hip injury.

Murray reeled off five games against the world number 108 and was soon 4-0 up in the second set before going on to claim victory in just 69 minutes.

American seventh seed Madison Keys hailed Serena Williams for inspiring her to reach the quarter-finals.

Keys, 21, was the first woman into the last-eight thanks to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over gritty Spaniard, Carla Suarez Navarro.

Keys, who made the Australian Open semi-finals in January, will face either Italy’s Sara Errani or promising Daria Kasatkina of Russia for a place in the last four.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2016