Murray to play in TWO Olympic finals on Sunday after win with Robson
By NICK HARRIS
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Andy Murray is relishing what could be the greatest day of his sporting life, when he will play for gold in two Olympic tennis finals at Wimbledon.
First he will resume his rivalry with Roger Federer, with a prize at stake that neither has won before, an Olympic gold medal.
Then Murray and Laura Robson will contest the mixed doubles final, having won two matches yesterday - their quarter-final and semi-final - to earn a shot at Games glory.
It was exactly four weeks ago that the 25-year-old Murray lost the Wimbledon men's singles final to Federer on Centre Court.
All smiles: Andy Murray and Laura Robson salute the partisan Centre Court crowd
It was the third time Federer had beaten Murray in a Grand Slam final.
That, however, is an irrelevance today, according to Murray, who says that when they walk into tennis's most famous arena with gold up for grabs, both of them will be entering new territory.
'He's not played for the gold medal in singles before,' said Murray, who has won eight of their 16 meetings in all competitions. 'Most times when I've played him, he's experienced the situations we've been in many more times than me.
'He'd played seven Wimbledon finals before this year's final. For me, it was my first one.
'It's so rare for him to be in a position where he's trying to do something new because he's achieved so much in tennis.
'I hope that will even things out a little bit. Obviously, I'll need to play great tennis to win. I think the tournament deserves a great final. I hope we can provide that.'
Murray and Robson beat Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur in three sets, including a 10-8 champions tiebreak as the third set, before moving past Germany's Christopher Kas and Sabine Lisicki in the semi-finals 6-1, 6-7, 10-7.
'It's been different to what I normally do, but I've enjoyed the whole event and Sunday is pretty much the perfect end to the tournament for me and I'll try to win both,' Murray said.
In tandem: Murray puts away a volley at the net as Robson patrols the baseline
Robson said: 'I'm super excited for tomorrow and I'm sure we're going to do well.'
Federer's Grand Slam record puts him head and shoulders above any other man to play the game.
His win at Wimbledon this year was his 17th Slam singles title and his seventh at the All England Club. He also has an Olympics doubles gold medal from Beijing.
The world No 1 has always wanted to add an Olympic singles medals to his career haul of honours, however. But so does Murray, who is re-assessing the Games' importance to him after a uniquely enjoyable week of his career.
'If you asked me before the tournament, I would have said within tennis, a Wimbledon title, a Slam title, is the most important thing to do in your career. But within sport, a gold medal is, for sure, the pinnacle. Everyone understands what a gold medal is.
'After what I've experienced it would be right up there with anything else that I could achieve in tennis.'
Great Britain has not won any Olympic tennis medal since Tim Henman and Neil Broad took the silver in the doubles in 1996 in Atlanta.
On a roll: Laura Robson and Andy Murray saw off the challenge of Sam Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt
The wait for a British man to win the Olympics singles title is even longer than the wait since the last winner of Wimbledon.
You have to go back to Josiah Ritchie in 1908 to find a British man on top of the podium.
To reach the final, Murray beat his old friend and rival Novak Djokovic in straight sets on Friday in front of a packed Centre Court crowd who cheered him to the rafters.
'It was one of the biggest matches of my career, one of the biggest wins of my career,' said the Scot. 'It was emotional, I was so happy to win. You don't see me smiling that much normally.
'Even afterwards, all the volunteers and staff were just so happy. All the people that came to watch and who hung around outside, it's so different to what we normally experience in tennis.' 
Down and out: Lleyton Hewit and Sam Stosur react after defeat
Murray insisted that he would not be too exhausted to give his best shot, saying: 'I'm going to be sore at the end of the week, but with an Olympic gold medal at stake, it's worth it.'
Murray is already guaranteed at least silver even if he comes up short, not that his attitude or standard of play this week suggests he is doing anything but going for broke.
'To get through and guarantee yourself a medal is great,' he says. 'That's what I wanted to try to achieve before the tournament started.
'But, yeah, now I'm in the final and have a chance to win a gold medal. I'll not have that chance for another four years, so I'll give it everything I can to try and do that.'
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