As the first German in 21 years, Alexander Zverev made it into the quarter-finals of the individual competition at the Olympic tennis tournament.
He wants a medal: Alexander Zverev.
imago images / Paul Zimmer
Alexander Zverev is getting closer and closer to the longed-for Olympic medal in Tokyo. The 24-year-old reached the quarter-finals with a 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 5) against Nikolos Basilashvili from Georgia and is only two wins away from the podium. In hot and humid conditions, Zverev was particularly convincing with its own service: The Hamburger won seven service games in a row without losing points.
In the quarter-finals on Thursday, Zverev will meet Jeremy Chardy (France) or Liam Broady (Great Britain), if he lives up to his role as a favorite in this match, he has two chances of a medal. It would be the second in the men’s singles for the German Tennis Association (DTB) since silver for Tommy Haas in 2000 in Sydney.
Zverev is the last hope of the DTB in the individual, after Dominik Koepfer said goodbye to the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta (6: 7, 3: 6) from the tournament. In three singles in the Ariake Tennis Park he stayed without a set and served outstandingly – in the past from time to time a shaky discipline in Zverev’s game.
18 out of 20 first serves are sitting
Against Basilashvili he didn’t give up a single point with his own service in the first set, 18 out of 20 first serves found the target. Unlike Zverev’s two opening opponents, Basilashvili does not belong to the category of walk-in customers. He has won two ATP tournaments this year and is number 41 in the world rankings. Nevertheless, Zverev also dominated in set two.
And yet had to go into overtime: when the score was 5: 3, he missed three match points and conceded the first break, Basilashvili suddenly played more courageously, he fought for his last chance. But Zverev withstood the increasing pressure and ended the long one-sided match after 1:38 hours of play.
The semi-finals beckon in doubles
Zverev also has a chance of a medal in doubles with Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein). The duo will meet the Americans Austin Krajicek / Tennys Sandgren on Wednesday afternoon (local time), and if they win, the Germans will already be in the semi-finals.
