"It's disappointing for me; I was in the driver's seat for a set and a half and had a break, but I have to give him huge credit," said world No. 1.
By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, July 30, 2021

Novak Djokovic could see his path to the gold-medal match as clearly as the baseline.

Then Alexander Zverev stepped closer to the line and took a wrecking ball to the world No. 1's Golden Grand Slam dream in a monumental Olympics upset.

Gold Shoulder: Zverev Stuns Djokovic in Olympic Upset

Riding his explosive serve, Zverev streaked through 10 of the last 11 games shocking Djokovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 to power into the Tokyo Olympics gold-medal match.

Playing declarative first-strike tennis empowered Zverev, who hit 21 more winners—37 to 16—than Djokovic and unleashed an eight-game surge transforming a 1-6, 2-3 deficit into a 4-0 lead in the final set.

Djokovic was pragmatic confronting the pain of a defeat that came five years after his emotional opening-round loss to Juan Martin del Potro at the 2015 Rio Games.

"It's disappointing for me; I was in the driver's seat for a set and a half and had a break, but I have to give him huge credit," Djokovic said of Zverev. "He took it. He took the match he took every oportunity and he deserves to win."

The defeat ends Djokovic's quest to become the first man in history to claim the Golden Grand Slam—win all four Grand Slam crowns and the Olympic singles gold medal in the same season—though he will resume his hunt for the calendar Grand Slam at next month's US Open.

“He just upped his level and I just wasn’t serving anymore as well as I did for a set and a half and he didn’t miss too many first serves from the 2-3 down in the second set all the way to the last point,” Djokovic told Olympic Channel’s Trenni Kusnierek. “He was serving huge and taking every opportunity from the back of the court to attack. “He just wasn’t missing at all. He didn’t give me any free points.

"I didn’t get any free points on my serve. That’s tennis at the highest level.”

A day that began with golden allure degenerated into double misery. Credit Djokovic for showing his commitment to the cause returning to court to partner Nina Stojanovich in mixed doubles.

The Serbian pair played for a spot in the mixed doubles gold-medal match, but came up short bowing to Roland Garros finalists Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina 7-6(4), 7-5.

Instead of realizing the golden dream, Djokovic will settle for a pair of bronze-medal matches tomorrow, including the day’s first bronze clash against Pablo Carreno Busta, who fell to 12th-seeded Karen Khachanov in the day's first semifinal.

Tennis is a humbling sport even for the elite. Djokovic was coming off a quarterfinal demolition of Japan's Kei Nishikori in what he called one of his best performances of the season. Three games from the finish line today, the world No. 1 watched Zverev take his game to a higher level he simply could not match.

“Tough day; that’s sport,” Djokovic said. “Obviously playing at the Olympics and reaching the semis in singles and mixed we have high hopes to at least win one to guarantee the one medal for the country. “It wasn’t to be today. Two very tough exhausting matches both physically and mentally. I will try to do my best to rejuvenate for tomorrow.” 

It was Zverev's first win over the world No. 1 since the 2018 ATP Finals championship match.

During an emotional embrace at net, Zverev told Djokovic he was "sorry" for ending his dream. Djokovic praised Zverev, who played on his Adria Tour last summer, as a worthy winner.

"If there's anyone I would lose to it's him; he's a very nice guy, we get along very well off the court," Djokovic said. "We're friends. Obviously rivals on the court. We just had a nice friendly exchange. I wish him all the best in the finals."

US Open finalist Zverev has split four career clashes vs. Karen Khachanov, his opponent in Sunday's gold-medal match.

Photo credit: Getty

The heat was oppressive on Wednesday at Tokyo, and players were suffering. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday July 28, 2021

With temperatures in the high eighties and humidity over 70 percent, the heat took a toll on players at the Olympic tennis venue in Tokyo today. Daniil Medvedev was out of sorts and only survived due to the 10-minute extreme heat break that allowed him to get off court and cool off his system before returning to close out his 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over Fabio Fognini.

At one point during the match, Medvedev told umpire Carlos Ramos: “I can finish the match but I can die,” Medvedev replied. “If I die, are you going to be responsible?”

This is how the Russian left the court:

.@DaniilMedwed is off to the beach 🏝 pic.twitter.com/YRdFIO45Zy

— ‎‎‎‎‎ . (@Ashish__TV) July 28, 2021

Spain’s Paula Badosa was not so lucky. She was forced to retire against Marketa Vondrousova after dropping the opening set (6-3), and had to be carted off in a wheelchair, which means her mixed doubles match, scheduled for later in the day is probably a withdrawal.

Absolutely heartbreaking as Paula Badosa retires due to heat. Vondrousova is into the semis. pic.twitter.com/BNksT22RmZ

— ‎‎‎‎‎ . (@Ashish__TV) July 28, 2021

No way Badosa is coming back to play mixed doubles with Carreño later today. Tough scenes to watch. pic.twitter.com/SEZiZ7gYNy

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) July 28, 2021

These are tough conditions for players, and they have been all week in Tokyo. It is something that Medvedev called to attention early in the tournament. Before the tournament Medvedev suggested moving matches back by four hours to start at 3 PM, and World No.1 Novak Djokovic agreed with the plan.

"To be honest I don't understand why they don't start matches at say 3 pm,” he said. “I heard for tennis there's some kind of curfew for them to finish by midnight. If that's the case I just finished the last match. It's not even 5pm.

"We still have like seven hours to play. They have the lights on all the courts, they're going to make life much easier for all of us players. I just don't understand why they don't move it, I sincerely don't understand."

Medvedev had also complained about the 60-second changeover time during matches.

"The fact that we have only one minute between changeovers is a joke," he said. "I think if you ask, let's say 200 tennis players that are here, I think 195 will tell you that one minute is a joke and it should be 1:30 like it is in ATP tournaments."