Novak Djokovic’s attempt to win tennis’ Golden Slam ended Friday at the Tokyo Olympics.
No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany stormed back to beat top seed Djokovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 and advance to the gold-medal match on Sunday.
In the third set, Zverev jumped to a 3-0 lead as he broke the Serbian legend’s serve twice. Zverev, 24, also saved four break points of his own.
Zverev had lost five straight matches against Djokovic since defeating him at the season-ending finals in London in November 2018.
In the gold-medal round, Zverev will face No. 12 seed Karen Khachanov, who ousted Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-3. Khachanov represents Russia Olympic Committee.
Having won the 2021 Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, Djokovic needed a gold medal and a win at the U.S. Open to claim the rare Golden Slam. Only Steffi Graf of Germany has done it, winning all four Grand Slam tournaments and the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Djokovic and Carreno Busta will play for the bronze medal on Saturday.
Generali Open
Top seed Casper Ruud of Norway won his 11th straight match by defeating France’s Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 7-6 (7) Friday to advance to the finals in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Ruud is one victory away from winning his third clay-court tournament in as many weeks following wins at the Nordea Open and the Swiss Open Gstaad. He would become the first player since Andy Murray in 2011 to win three ATP Tour titles in three weeks.
Ruud will meet Spain’s Pedro Martinez in the finals. Martinez rallied to take down Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Truist Atlanta Open
In a matchup of seeded Americans, No. 5 seed Taylor Fritz outdueled No. 4 seed Reilly Opelka 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4) Friday in the quarterfinals in Atlanta.
The match lasted nearly three hours and saw a combined 48 aces without a single break point. Opelka saved all four break points he faced, including two match points in the second set, as all three sets were decided in tight tiebreaks.
Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland upset No. 3 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 7-6 (1), 6-3 to reach the semifinals. He will face American Brandon Nakashima, who dispatched of Australia’s Jordan Thompson 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Australian Christopher O’Connell led 5-4 in the first set against American No. 6 seed John Isner Friday night when their match was delayed by rain. The eventual winner will meet Fritz in the semis.
–Field Level Media
