Former British No.1 Tim Henman has backed Andy Murray for Rio Olympic gold after the fiery Scot produced a battling comeback to see off Fabio Fognini on Thursday.

Murray lost the second set 6-2 and then found himself three games down in the decider – a run of eight games without troubling the scorer.

But after the trademark Murray temper made its first appearance in Brazil – he screamed at his coaches and smashed his hand into his racket – the Brit delivered when it mattered most and won 6-1 2-6 6-3 to set up a quarter-final against USA's Steve Johnson.

Following on from his Wimbledon success earlier this summer, everything has been going swimmingly for Murray.

He was selected to carry out the British flag at the Rio Opening Ceremony, he has seen great rival Novak Djokovic eliminated at the first time of asking in Brazil and he has also come through matches against Viktor Troicki and Juan Monaco in impressive fashion, dropping just nine games.

But after receiving the fright of his life against world number 41 Fognini – the defending Olympic champion is destined to hang on to his crown, that’s according to Henman.

“Certainly Djokovic losing does Andy’s hopes of winning the Olympics no harm and it has been interesting to see some of the results, with a few upsets,” said Henman, who was speaking at the HSBC Road to Wimbledon national finals, hosted at the home of The Championships and the conclusion of the national tournament that has been helping discover the next generation of tennis stars since 2008.

“The conditions do look slow and heavy, which I’m not saying is a bad thing for Andy but there have been a few variables.

“He needs to be on his guard and maintain the levels of performance that he has shown in the last few months and if he does that then he has a great chance of defending his title – I think he will.

“If he does that then it would be huge – it would be a continuation of current form.

“I would take it back to Monte Carlo on the clay and the consistency level of his performance has been the best I have seen of his career.

“He has made semis in Monte Carlo, he was a finalist in Madrid, he won Rome, was in the final of the French, and won Queen’s and Wimbledon.

“He is playing exceptionally well and he is in a great place physically and mentally.

“Inevitably there will be a bump in the road and tough loses at some point but he is on such a good run of form; his confidence is sky high. Hopefully he can maintain that in the Olympics.”

Henman believes a second successive gold medal in Rio will see Murray referred to as the greatest-ever British tennis player, while the achievement will also see him ranked as one of the country’s best sportsmen in history.

The statement from Henman is certainly a huge call but there’s no doubting Murray is in the form of his life presently, determined to add silverware and titles to his name and he looks to continue his run of form.

“I think it is safe to say he is the greatest British player [of all time],” said Henman. “It is different going back to Fred Perry because it is a different era but when you look at what he has achieved and what he will go on to achieve, it will be a more relevant conversation to say ‘where does he stand in the world game’s [best of all time].

“It is a numbers game then about how many Grand Slams he ends up winning but what he has achieved has been incredible to watch.

“Djokovic has had a couple of surprising loses at Wimbledon and the Olympics but I would still say he is the favourite going into the US Open.

“He won in Toronto or Montreal a couple of weeks ago so he is obviously still playing well but I would put Murray a close second favourite – he’s in the form of his life and capable of winning everything and anything presently.”

Tim Henman is an HSBC ambassador. HSBC is the Official Banking Partner of The Championships and is committed to supporting tennis from the back garden to Centre Court. Follow @HSBC_Sport