Tokyo: Novak Djokovic’s quest to become the first-ever male tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam ended on Friday after he was handed a shock semifinal loss against Alexander Zverev in the men’s singles at the Tokyo Olympics.
The World No.1 lost to German fourth-seed Zverev won 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, who will meet Russian Karen Khachanov for the gold medal. The Serbian, who has never won an Olympics singles title, had already bagged Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon trophies this year and needed to win in Tokyo and the US Open to clinch a Golden Slam.
What a win 😳
🇩🇪 Alexander Zverev defeats Novak Djokovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the #Tokyo2020 final!#Olympics #Tennis pic.twitter.com/q8KsicRv5d
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 30, 2021
The 20-time Grand Slam winner’s best result in the Olympics came in 2008 when he won a bronze in Beijing. He lost to eventual winner Andy Murray in the 2012 London Olympics semifinals and was in tears after a first-round exit to Juan Martin del Potro at the 2016 Rio Games.
Zverev, who boasts an astonishing 10 wins out of his last 11 meetings against Djokovic, is also aiming to be the first German to win an Olympics singles gold since Steffi Graf in 1988. On the other hand, Khachanov produced a great show to dispatch Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets.
The Russian, playing under ROC, is also aiming to clinch the first men’s singles gold since Yevgeny Kafelnikov in Sydney 21 years ago. “It’s just pure happiness, pleasure to be here to live those moments, these kind of memories will stay forever,” the 25-year-old said.
