Fresh from his victory over world no 1 Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev became the first German man to win an Olympic gold medal in the men’s singles tournament. Zverev beat Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-1 in the final who was representing the Russian Olympic committee.
Wimbledon champion Djokovic was attempting to complete a ‘Golden Grand Slam’ which includes all four major titles and an Olympic gold medal. However his defeat to Zverev in the semi-final means Steffi Graf remains the only tennis player to have achieved this incredible accolade in 1988.
Zverev was understandably delighted to have claimed Olympic glory after he has spent the past couple of years trying to break the dominance of the ‘big three’ Djokovic, Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal but up until now had fallen just short of securing a major title. The German will now be hoping for more success and no doubt be eying grand slam tournaments in 2022.