By Rozanna Latiff and Junko Fujita
TOKYO, Jul 30 (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic “can’t have it all,” Alexander Zverev said on Friday after truncating the Serbian tennis player’s attempt to become the first man to complete the “Golden Slam” with his victory in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.
World number one Djokovic was the big favorite to win the singles gold medal at the Games when he arrived in Tokyo, having won the first three majors of the season: the Australian and French Opens, as well as Wimbledon.
Djokovic had to win his first singles Olympic gold and the US Open in September to complete the feat of capturing all four Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic gold in the same year. But the unexpected loss to Zverev put an end to his ambitions.
Djokovic has 20 Grand Slam titles, a men’s circuit record he shares with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and 36 Masters 1000 crowns, so Zverev said the Serb had more than enough.
“I’m sorry for Novak, but at the end of the day, he’s won 20 Grand Slams, he’s won 550 (sic) Masters Series, or I don’t know how many, so he can’t have it all,” Zverev, who came back a set and came back, told reporters. a break against to win the semifinal by 1-6, 6-3 and 6-1.
“As I said, he is the best player of all time and he will be the one who wins the most Grand Slams on the circuit (…) But I am also happy to be in the final, so what more can I say than that.”
The 24-year-old Zverev sobbed for several minutes on the court after his victory over the Serbian, who had beaten him in five consecutive matches since 2018.
“It is incredible to beat the best player in the world. It seemed impossible to beat him in this event, so I am very happy, but there is still one game to go.”
The German, fifth in the world ranking, will face Russian Karen Khachanov in the final for gold.
(Edited in Spanish by Javier Leira)
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