Olympics-Tennis-Ecstatic Zverev powers to men's gold in first for Germany

By Rozanna Latiff and Karolos Grohmann

TOKYO (Reuters) -Alexander Zverev became the first German man to win Olympic singles gold medal on Sunday, powering to a 6-3 6-1 victory over the Russian Olympic Committee's (ROC) Karen Khachanov that he called the greatest of his career.

The world number five, who upset number one Novak Djokovic in a stunning comeback on Friday, put on a near flawless performance against big-hitting Khachanov, who had no answers to the German's serve and laser-like returns.

"There is nothing better than this," said Zverev, who matched compatriot Steffi Graf's 1988 success in the women's singles, while Boris Becker and Michael Stich won men's doubles gold for Germany in 1992.

"I think, because you're not just playing for yourself, you're playing for everybody involved, everybody in Germany supporting me back at home, supporting all the athletes here."

"The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world," added Zverev, who came agonisingly close to breaking his Grand Slam duck in 2020 when he lost the U.S. Open final from two sets up against Austria’s Dominic Thiem.

"So, for me, the feelings that I have, and the feelings that I probably will have in these next few days, can't compare to anything else."

Zverev broke 25-year-old Khachanov's serve twice to take the first set, before steam-rollering through the second, winning five games in a row.

Khachanov managed just one game in the final set before sending a forehand into the net on championship point, securing the gold for the German.

Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta claimed the bronze on Saturday after beating Djokovic.

'DOUBLES GOLD FOR CZECHS, ROC'

In the women's doubles, the Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova beat Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 7-5 6-1 to clinch their country's first Olympic gold in the sport.

The victory for the top-seeded Czech team and three-time Grand Slam champions put an end to Bencic's dream of making it a Swiss double golden success, after she triumphed in the women's singles final a day earlier over Krejcikova and Siniakova's compatriot Marketa Vondrousova.

But it helped continue a dream summer for Krejcikova, who took home both the women's singles and doubles trophies at this year's French Open. She and Siniakova also won the 2018 French Open and Wimbledon.

Krejcikova thanked previous Czech medalists, who include 2016 women's bronze winner Petra Kvitova, for inspiring the pair.

"It's very special... We just need to thank them because without them, we wouldn't have the motivation or inspiration, it's really big," Krejcikova said. "Now we have this beautiful gold medal, it's pretty much a dream come true."

Brazilians Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani won the bronze on Saturday, claiming their country's first tennis medal with a win over Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina of the ROC.

In the mixed doubles' final, the ROC added two more medals to Khachanov's silver, with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev edging compatriots Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev 6-3 6-7(5) (13-11) to clinch the gold.

Australian pair Ash Barty and John Peers took the bronze, winning by walkover after Djokovic, playing with Nina Stojanovic, withdrew from Saturday's contest citing a shoulder injury.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Hugh Lawson and John Stonestreet)

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Tennis - Women's Doubles - Gold medal match - Ariake Tennis Park - Tokyo, Japan - August 1, 2021. Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic and Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic celebrate after winning their gold medal match against Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland and Belinda Bencic of Switzerland REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Tennis - Women's Doubles - Medal Ceremony - Ariake Tennis Park - Tokyo, Japan - August 1, 2021. Gold medallists Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic and Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic on the podium with silver medallists, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland and bronze medallists, Laura Pigossi of Brazil and Luisa Stefani of Brazil REUTERS/Edgar Su

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Tennis - Women's Doubles - Medal Ceremony - Ariake Tennis Park - Tokyo, Japan - August 1, 2021. Fellow gold medallist Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic awards teammate Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic her gold medal REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

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