Alexander Zverev brushed aside Karen Khachanov in straight sets on Sunday to seal the Olympic men’s singles title and win Germany’s first tennis Gold since 1992.
The fourth seed, who ended Novak Djokovic’s Golden Grand Slam bid in the semi-finals, produced a dominant display to win 6-3, 6-1 after just 79 minutes at the Ariake Tennis Park.
“I couldn’t feel anything. I wasn’t playing for myself. I was playing for my whole country,” said Zverev, who fell to the ground in celebration after clinching the win.
Zverev becomes only the second German to win an Olympic singles Gold after Steffi Graf in 1988, while Boris Becker and Michael Stich took the men’s doubles crown four years later.
The world number five is still waiting for a maiden Grand Slam title after several near misses, including when he blew a two-set lead to lose to Dominic Thiem in last year’s US Open final.
However, the 24-year-old can add this victory to his 2018 ATP Finals triumph and his four Masters titles.
Earlier, Czechs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova added the women’s doubles Gold to their 2021 French Open title.
Krejcikova, who also won the Roland Garros singles earlier this year, and Siniakova beat Swiss pair Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic 7-5, 6-1.