Alexander Zverev was crying. After the sensation he had just created, he sat deeply moved for minutes on his players bench, his face buried deep in the towel. Very surprisingly, the man from Hamburg made it into the final and could now become the first German tennis player to become Olympic champion in the men’s singles.
With an outstanding performance, the 24-year-old from Hamburg won his semi-finals on Friday after 2:03 hours against the Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic with 1: 6, 6: 3, 6: 1. «I have a medal now. It’s not just for me, but for the whole German team. It’s an amazing feeling, ”said Zverev after his victory. This means that he has the first individual medal since Tommy Haas silver 21 years ago and will reach for gold on Sunday. In the final against the Russian Karen Khachanov he is even the favorite this time. “In the end he is in the final because he shows great tennis. So it won’t be an easy match, ”said Zverev.
It wasn’t easy in the semi-finals either, on the contrary. “That was certainly one of the most emotional victories of my career, said the completely exhausted Zverev. On the Center Court, the German number one had delivered a very strong performance against this year’s outstanding star of the tennis world from the middle of the second set. Only a tantrum of the world number five had led to the turning point when it looked like a certain defeat. Zverev had lost his service game to 2: 3 in the second set, then let his anger air and hit a ball high out of the arena.
The scene seemed like a wake-up call for the US Open finalist of 2020. Zverev turned it up: suddenly he succeeded in a series of 12: 1 points – and the sentence equalization. In the decisive round, Zverev then continued against the 20-time Grand Slam winner and bronze medalist from 2008, was quickly 4-0 ahead and a little later converted his second match point.
As a connoisseur of the Olympic atmosphere, debutant Zverev is now following in the footsteps of German tennis greats in Tokyo. Steffi Graf won gold in 1988 and silver four years later. Angelique Kerber also celebrated the silver plaque five years ago. Haas reached the final in Sydney in 2000. And no matter how his last game in Tokyo ends on Sunday, Zverev has already set an important example in his tennis career.
As a side effect, Zverev also spoiled his opponent’s chance of a historic milestone. Djokovic wanted to take the opportunity to win the Golden Slam this year, all he lacked was the Olympic gold and the title at the US Open in September. His victories in Melbourne at the Australian Open, in Paris at the French Open and at Wimbledon showed how difficult it is to beat the Serb. The Golden Slam remains a one-time success for Steffi Graf in 1988.dpa / nd
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