Novak Djokovic's search for a historic 'Golden Slam' came to an end on Friday as he lost to Alexander Zverev in Tokyo 2020 semifinal.
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Novak Djokovic’s bid for a ‘Golden Slam’ is over after defeat to Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Friday. The World No 1 was aiming to become the first man to win all four majors and an Olympic singles gold medal in the same calendar year. Steffi Graf is the only tennis player to have achieved this feat previously. After a productive series of matches in Tokyo, Djokovic was flying through the opening set of the semi-final and his bid to create more tennis history looked on track.
However, the 24-year-old Zverev showed an exceptional level of determination and character to turn his own game around and triumph 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Zverev will now face Karen Khachanov in the final. Djokovic will face Carreno Busta in the bronze medal match before his attention shifts to the US Open where he will be attempting to win his fourth grand slam title of the year. He has to wait for atleast another three years to try and win the Olympic singles gold medal when Paris 2024 comes around.
The Serbian has already won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon this year. He would have needed the gold medal at the Olympics and the US Open title to complete the set. Victory at the last grand slam of the year would still take the 34-year-old to 21 major titles, surpassing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal who each have 20 majors to their name.
After the match, Zverev explained what did he and Djokovic said amongst them as the pair embraced at the net.
“I told him that he’s the greatest of all time, and he will be,” Zverev told reporters.
“I know that he was chasing history, is chasing the ‘Golden Slam’ and was chasing the Olympics, but in these kind of moments me and Novak are very close.
“Of course I’m happy that I’ve won, but at the end of the day I know how Novak feels.”
