Alexander Zverev
Tennis star has played “for a whole country”
Alexander Zverev is happy about his triumph.
© imago images / Kyodo News
Tennis star Alexander Zverev won gold for Germany at the Olympics. “Madness,” he enthused after his success.
As the first German tennis professional in the men’s singles, Alexander Zverev (24) made Olympic history with his gold medal. Born in Hamburg, he beat Russian Karen Khachanov (25) 6: 3, 6: 1 in the final on Sunday. It is “madness. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a feeling in my life”, Zverev raved afterwards in an interview with the broadcaster Eurosport.
“You can’t even dream about it,” Zverev continued. Among other things, one dreams of taking part in the Olympics at all. “But having a gold medal around the neck is something I couldn’t imagine in life.”
Zverev played for his daughter, his family and an entire country
Since he won the semi-finals against world number one Novak Djokovic (34), his goal has been to get gold “for my family, my parents, my brother, my daughter”, the team, the fans and for Germany. “I didn’t just play for myself, but for a whole country,” said Zverev.
The mother of his little daughter Mayla, who was born in March 2021, is the former “Germany’s next top model” participant Brenda Patea. Zverev and Patea split up before their child was born.