The German player, who ended Novak Djokovic’s historic ‘Golden Slam’ bid, dropped just one set in Tokyo en route to the gold medal.
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Alexander Zverev capped off his dream Olympic debut by winning the gold medal on Sunday. The German produced a dominant display to defeat the ROC’s Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-1 in 79 minutes at the Tokyo Olympics. Zverev assured himself of at least a silver medal on Friday when he ended top seed Novak Djokovic’s historic ‘Golden Slam’ quest. The 34-year-old Serbian arrived in the Japanese capital after bagging his sixth Wimbledon men’s singles title recently. Djokovic, who has already clinched his ninth Australian Open crown and a second Roland Garros title, had a good chance of claiming the calendar-year Grand Slam, with only US Open left.
Besides, the World No.1 also kept alive the opportunity to become the first man to ever complete a Golden Grand Slam. Back in 1988, legendary female tennis player Steffi Graf won an Olympic gold medal and all four majors that year. No other player has come close to matching that feat up to this point. However, Alexander Zverev brought an end to Djokovic’s dream in the semifinal. The German carried that form into the final as he was ruthless against his opponent from the start. The 24-year-old won 87 per cent (26/30) of his first-service points and fired 22 winners to become the first German man to win an Olympic singles gold medal in tennis.
Zverev, who has won ATP Tour titles at the Mutua Madrid Open and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC this year, spoke about what this gold means for him. “There is nothing better than this,” Alexander Zverev, who dropped just one set in Tokyo, told ITFtennis.com. “You are not only playing for yourself, you are playing for your country, and the Olympics are the biggest sporting event in the world. The feeling I have now, and will have, nothing will be better.”
Khachanov, who leaves Tokyo with a silver medal, overcame Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta on Friday to claim his spot in the gold medal match. “He played from the beginning to the end an unbelievable match,” Khachanov told ITFtennis.com. “I also played an outstanding match from my point of view, but he was just better today – all credit to him. I was dreaming of gold, but I’ll give it a try at the next Olympics.”
The ROC’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev defeated compatriots Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-7, 13-11 to capture the Olympic mixed doubles gold medal on Sunday. Pavlyuchenkova, a runner-up at the 2021 French Open, and Rublev had beaten Australia’s Ash Barty and John Peers in the semifinals.
“It’s amazing to play in an Olympics final,” Vesnina was quoted as saying by olympics.com. “It’s something you’ve been dreaming of your whole sports life. This silver feels like a gold after coming back from having a baby.”
“It’s a little bit harder, you know, it’s a tough job to be a mum,” she added, while discussing how motherhood helped her game. “And when I came back, it was a little bit even tougher.”
Meanwhile, Top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova secured Czech Republic’s first gold medal in doubles with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic.
“I think it’s just very special,” Krejcikova said in an on-court interview for The Olympic Channel, following the match. “It’s once in four years, it’s something different because you’re representing your country, and everybody back home is watching you. We just want them to be proud.”
