Britain’s Andy Murray advanced to the men’s Olympic final with a straight sets victory over Japan’s Kei Nishikori yesterday, securing a chance to defend his title and become the first tennis player to win two singles golds at the Games.

In a commanding performance, the Wimbledon champion and number two ranked player broke Nishikori’s serve early on, breezing through the first set 6-1. Murray served aggressively and quickly closed out the match 6-1 6-4, never giving Nishikori a single chance to break back.

“I think I played really well,” Murray said. “I didn’t give him any opportunities on my serves and I was very aggressive when I was returning.”

Asked about the prospect of winning a second straight Olympic gold, Murray said: “It would mean a lot. It’s obviously not an easy thing to do – that’s why it has not been done before.”

In today’s gold medal match, the 29-year-old Briton will face Argen-tina’s Juan Martin del Potro who beat Rafa Nadal 5-7 6-4 7-6.

Women’s singles: Bronze medal match – Kvitova bt Keys 7-5 2-6 6-2.