Thursday 29 July 2021
With entry into the Olympic semifinals
Zverev expects the most difficult task possible
In the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games, Alexander Zverev shows how dominant he can be. In the semifinals, someone is waiting who is even more dominant on the tennis court. To win a medal, the German now has two options.
Tennis star Alexander Zverev has the longed-for medal right in front of his eyes at the Olympic Games – but for gold he now has to eliminate Dominator Novak Djokovic. The world number five from Hamburg moved into the semifinals with a never endangered and extremely dominant 6: 4, 6: 1 against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and only needs one victory for precious metal with two chances. It would be the second medal in the men’s singles for the German Tennis Association (DTB) since silver for Tommy Haas in 2000 in Sydney. On Friday, the Grand Slam record champion Djokovic, who gave the Japanese Kei Nishikori no chance at 6: 2, 6: 0, but the currently most difficult task in tennis at all.
As in the round of 16, Zverev’s serve, previously also wobbly discipline, came perfectly and generated many free points. The US Open finalist grabbed an early break, dominated from the baseline and also exuded great self-confidence with his body language.
He was not in danger of giving up his first set in the tournament – also because he also took the serve from Chardy early in the second round and continued to serve excellently. After only 66 minutes he finished the match and waved to the almost empty grandstands with a smile.
Djokovic is chasing the Golden Slam this year, the combination of all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic gold medal, which is unique among men. Steffi Graf was the only tennis professional to have achieved this feat in 1988. The Serb has already collected the titles in Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon – at the Australian Open, he also decided the last duel with Zverev in the quarter-finals. In a direct comparison, Djokovic leads 6-2.
In the second semifinals, the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta and ROC athlete Karen Khachanov face each other. Carreno Busta surprisingly threw second world number one Daniil Medvedev (ROC) 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 5) from the tournament. Chatschanow prevailed 7: 6 (7: 4), 4: 6, 6: 3 against the French Ugo Humbert.
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