A sort ofWith tears in the eyes of lexander Zverev, after the tennis sensation in Tokyo, he sat on the players’ bench for a few minutes and was deeply moved. Unexpectedly, he reached the final and became the first German tennis player to become an Olympic men’s singles champion. With his outstanding performance, the 24-year-old from Hamburg defeated Serbia’s world number one Novak Djokovic with 2:03 hours this Friday, 1:6, 6:3, 6:1 , Won an unforgettable semi-final duel.
This means that Zverev won his first personal medal since Tommy Haas won the silver medal 21 years ago-and will win the gold medal on Sunday. In the final against Russia’s surprise finalist Karen Chanov, Zverev was the favorite.
“Hope is gold”
“In the final analysis, my biggest motivation is to win a medal — I hope it is a gold medal,” Zverev said the day before. On the centre court, the German number one has performed well in the game against the tennis stars who have started in the middle of the second set so far this year. The fifth-ranked tantrum in the world led to a turning point when his loss in the expected finals seemed imminent.
When Zverev had to make his serve 2-3 with a 2:3 score in the second set, he vented his anger and hit the ball out of the tennis court. In the previously empty auditorium in the stadium, the small support group rang out at the same time “Noel, Noel”. But this scene seemed to sound the alarm for the 2020 US Open finalists. Zverev discovered this: He scored a series of 12:1 and equalized at the same time. In the decisive round, Zverev faced 20 Grand Slam champions and 2008 bronze medalists-even leading 4-0, and later reversed his second match point.
As a connoisseur of the Olympic atmosphere, rookie Zverev follows in the footsteps of German tennis superstars in the Japanese capital. Steffi Graf won the gold medal in 1988 and the silver medal four years later. Five years ago, Angelique Kerber also celebrated for the silver medal. Haas was the last German to reach the final of the 2000 men’s singles final in Sydney, but lost to Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
Regardless of how the final match in Tokyo on Sunday ends, Zverev has set an important mark for his tennis career, and even tennis idol Boris Becker is far ahead. Becker won double gold in Barcelona, but failed as an Olympic soloist.
As a side effect, Zverev ruined Serbia’s chance to rank first in the historic milestone in the world. Djokovic wants to take advantage of the golden slam this year, but still lacks the Olympic gold medal and the US Open championship. The fact that the Serb is the best at the Australian Open in Melbourne, the French Open in Paris and Wimbledon in 2021 shows how difficult it is to defeat him. In 1988, Golden Slam was still Steffi Graf’s unique success.
