Tennis: Andy Murray and Laura Robson guarantee medal with victory over Germany in mixed doubles semi-final
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Your support makes all the difference.Andy Murray will play for two gold medals tomorrow after he and Laura Robson brilliantly won their mixed doubles semi-final against Germans Christopher Kas and Sabine Lisicki.
Murray was already assured of at least a silver medal in singles ahead of tomorrow's final against Roger Federer.
And now he will also have a doubles medal after he and Robson pulled off victory for Great Britain in a match tie-break, going through 6-1 6-7 (9/7) 10-7.
Not everyone would consider two mixed doubles matches in a day to be ideal preparation for a men's singles final against Federer, but Murray has loved the whole Olympic experience and playing in front of the noisy crowd.
The British pair began the day by defeating Australian pair Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur 6-3 3-6 10-8 on Centre Court.
That meant they were guaranteed a shot at a medal tomorrow, but they wanted at least silver and came out firing on Court One.
Lisicki and Kas have both reached Wimbledon semi-finals, the former in singles and the latter in men's doubles, but they lost the first six points and were quickly 3-0 down.
Murray had to save two break points in the fifth game but that was a minor blip as the British pair promptly broke the Kas serve for the second time in the match and Robson served out the set.
The teenager was more than holding her own in high-quality company and played a big part as the pair broke the Kas serve once more to lead 2-1 in the second set.
Robson conceded her serve for the second time straight away but a third consecutive break followed and this time Murray held to put the home duo two games away from the final.
Robson was just starting to wobble a little, and an untimely double fault allowed the Germans to break back for 4-4, but the teenager saved a set point in her next service game to take the set into a tie-break.
It swung one way and then the other, with Kas and Lisicki turning a 3-0 deficit into a 6-3 lead only to see three more set points go begging.
Robson and Murray saved a fourth, too, but a fifth followed when the Scot missed a volley, slamming his racquet to the turf in frustration, and this time the Germans capitalised.
That meant yet another match tie-break for the British pair, their third in successive matches, and they made a decent start, but Kas and Lisicki were matching them point for point.
The crucial point came with Lisicki serving at 7-6 behind, a volley into the net giving the British duo a mini-break, and Robson won both her service points to earn them a terrific victory.
PA
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