Gold rush: Zverev surges to Olympic triumph over Khachanov
Steffi, Boris, Michael, Sascha: German tennis has a new Olympic gold medallist after Alexander Zverev claimed the nation’s first men’s singles triumph at the Games with victory over ROC’s Karen Khachanov.
The world No. 5 backed up his stunning victory over top seed Novak Djokovic with a clear-eyed, near-flawless display in the final, prevailing 6-3 6-1 to join Seoul 1988 singles champion Graf and Barcelona 1992 doubles gold medallists Becker and Stich in the honour roll of German Olympic champions since the sport returned to the Games in 1988.
Khachanov simply could not find a way to hurt the 24-year-old, who twinned rifled flat groundstrokes with canny defence and a brilliant serving display to steamroll his way through eight of the last nine games to claim the biggest title of his career.
"This is so much bigger than anything else in sports, especially in tennis - this is an incredible feeling me for me right now," Zverev said. "There is nothing better than this. 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."
Zverev was dominant in all departments in the gold medal match, firing 22 winners – six aces among them – while confining Khachanov to just seven, and winning a dozen points at net from his 14 forays forward, where time and again he followed up a measured first volley with a feather-finishing-touch.
With the sun setting behind the western stand of the cavernous Centre Court at Ariake Tennis Centre, clustered supporters from the Germany and ROC delegations made themselves heard from the first point. Both players produced assured holds in their opening service games, but Zverev was soon pressuring Khachanov’s delivery, returning with interest to break for a 2-1 lead.
Khachanov had a fleeting chance to level up in the sixth game, but once that had passed, Zverev was untouchable. From 4-3 he claimed the next seven games in succession, holding to love to move within touching distance of the podium at 5-0 in the second set.
Khachanov stopped the streak to pull one game back, but it was a brief reprieve, the German sealing victory with an unreturnable drive volley after one hour, 19 minutes before collapsing to the court in celebration.
"Those four sets were pretty decent," joked Zverev, batting back suggestions the comeback from a set down against Djokovic and straight-sets win over Khachanov, with their eight- and seven-game surges respectively, constituted some of the best tennis of his career.
"I could always hit the ball quite hard – this week it was going more into the court than not, I guess," he said, later adding: "All the tennis experts and ex-players, they always saw other guys being better than me. I now have 16 tournaments wins, four Masters 1000 wins, the ATP Finals, and a gold medal."
Khachanov made a moment of Olympic tennis history in Tokyo, becoming the first player to win medals at both the Olympics and the Youth Olympic Games, having claimed boys' doubles silver at Nanjing 2014 alongside Andrey Rublev, who will follow suit after the mixed doubles final.
"He played from the beginning to the end an unbelievable match," conceded the world No. 25. "I also played an outstanding match from my point of view, but he was just better today - all credit to him. For me, the Olympics stands alongside as the Grand Slams, that’s why I trained for this as soon as Wimbledon was over. I was dreaming of gold, but I’ll give it a try at the next Olympics."
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Tennis Event will forever be remembered as the Olympics played without fans in the stands, masks on the podiums and PCR tests, but to Zverev's mind, that makes these Olympics more essential than ever, particularly for those watching the world over.
"I think sport right now, in the world we are living in, is not only important, but necessary," Zverev insisted. "I think it's necessary for people to have something to watch, something to cheer for, even if it's in front of the TV. I think the Olympics are very important to be happening right now - not only for Japan, but the whole world."