RIO DE JANEIRO -- Neither ranking points nor Zika, nor politics, nor an arduous ATP season could have kept Andy Murray from Rio.
Although pro athletes withdrew from these Olympic Games over the past few months for a wide variety of reasons, the two-time Wimbledon champ and defending Olympic gold medalist held firm to his commitment. He took a week and a half off after Wimbledon to rest and begin preparation for Rio and beyond at the expense of missing tournaments like the Rogers Cup in Toronto last week, where 1,000 rankings points were forfeited for the 2015 champion.
"The Olympics means a lot to me," Murray said Thursday, two days after being named the flag-bearer for Great Britain at Friday's opening ceremonies. "That's why this is my priority. And yeah, I lost a few ranking points, but that's fine. I was willing to sacrifice that to give myself the best chance to do well here."
The native Scot was also questioned about whether his political leanings factored into his decision after he spoke out in favor of Scottish independence more than a year ago, a referendum that was denied.
"I've been competing for Great Britain since I was 10 years old," Murray said. "It was the first time I traveled abroad. ... My record when I compete for my country speaks for itself. I love the feeling of competing for my country."
Murray cited his Davis Cup victories for Britain and called the day he won his gold medal in singles and silver in mixed doubles with Laura Robson at the 2012 London Games "one of the best days in my professional life."
"And I'm going to try my best to make the country proud again after another good run," he added.
Being named the flag-bearer makes Rio that much sweeter for Murray, a three-time Olympian who said he was humbled and speechless when told the news as he was getting into bed Tuesday night.
"By far it's the proudest moment in my professional career," he said. "I never, ever thought I'd get the opportunity to do this. ... I'll remember it the rest of my life."
The message was carried by Mark England, Great Britain's chef de mission, who spoke of Murray's perseverance throughout his career.
"I was thinking so many things when he told me," Murray said. "I couldn't absorb everything he said. I just kept saying, 'Thank you so much.'"
Murray, 29, was equally flustered when the team gathered for photographs Wednesday night, when he had to carry the flag for the first time.
"I'm going to blame the photographers for what happened last night because I was given directions and then I ended up putting the flag in front of Princess Anne's face," Murray said to chuckles from the media. "I didn't know what to do, to be honest. They were telling me put the flag here, but the flag is huge, so as soon as I moved it, it was covering someone's face, and last night didn't go so well."
Asked how the princess reacted, Murray quipped, "I think she said, 'Make sure you don't poke my eye out.' Something along those lines. I hope she was OK. I didn't mean to do that. I was just following directions."
Murray was chosen ahead of such favorites as boxer Nicola Adams and rower Katherine Grainger.
"It's fully deserved, and it's great for British tennis as well to have someone like him representing all of the athletes [on Friday]," said teammate Johanna Konta.
Murray's first appearance on the tennis court will be Sunday, when he will play both singles and doubles with younger brother Jamie. Ranked No. 2 in the world, Andy Murray said he will be ready after Friday night's festivities, which he said will be "inspiring."
With stars such as Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka opting out of Rio because of injuries, Murray and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic are the favorites to win gold.
"Roger and Stan, if they were both here, everyone who has won a Grand Slam in the last 10 years or so would be playing here," Murray said. "So that's unfortunate they both got injured, and some people obviously had different concerns about coming here.
"Maybe everyone thinks differently. For me, the Olympics is the biggest sporting event by far, and I'm proud to be here to represent my country."