Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the first time in two years when they battle for the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
The head-to-head series is all tied up at 2-2, with Zverev taking the first two matches before Khachanov reeled off two wins of his own at Masters 1000 events in 2018 (Paris) and 2019 (Montreal).
Since 2019, however, the two finalists have gone in different directions. Zverev has established himself as a staple of the top five, whereas Khachanov just barely peaked inside the top 10 at one point and now finds himself at 25th in the rankings. In fact, going into Wimbledon the Russian’s 2021 match record stood at a disappointing 16-15. A quarterfinal performance at the All-England Club seems to have turned things around, however. So far in Tokyo he has defeated Yoshihito Nishioka, James Duckworth, Diego Schwartzman, Ugo Humbert, and eventual bronze medalist Pablo Carreno Busta.
Zverev has punched his ticket to the gold-medal match with victories over Yen-Hsun Lu, Daniel Elahi Galan, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Jeremy Chardy, and Novak Djokovic. That may be an unspectacular assembly of opponents prior to the semis, but an upset of Djokovic is all you need to know about the German’s level. The way Zverev did it was especially impressive: coming back from a set and a break down to take 10 of the last 11 games.
Perhaps even more encouraging for Zverev’s prospects in the final is that he is serving incredibly well. The No. 4 seed has double-faulted only twice in the entire tournament. That is nothing short of a mind-boggling statistic given that doubles are normally the weakness of Zverev’s game.
It should also be noted that this is just the fifth final of Khachanov’s career and only his second big one (he won the 2018 Paris Masters). Zverev, on the hand, is no stranger to playing on the biggest stages in the world. With the way he is serving, the world No. 5 has the edge.
Pick: Zverev in 2
WWW?
Zverev in 3
Zverev crumbles under the preassure, Khachanov in 3.
Zverev in 3
Zverev in three, he deserves a big win
“Deserves?” He’s still got serious allegations of domestic assault hanging over him. The ATP has conveniently decided to ignore them.
Just her word against his at the moment of course. I don’t know if it will come to court and if not, why not. Didn’t he miss a court appearance because of Wimbledon?
Different interpretation of what he deserves depending what court you’re talking about
Could also add innocent until…
For sure, but still an elephant in the room.
Thank you for reminding us of the domestic violence allegations. That should not be swept under the rug or ignored,
Also, who exactly qualifies as “deserving” to win? In what universe?
In a purely tennis universe, Zverev has won everything but a Slam and come pretty close,proving himself a great player why wouldnt he deserve this ?
And the fact that he won it , again in a tennis universe, has he done something wrong he doesnt deserve it? Is he like Lance Armstrong?
I think you and Welshwitch are emotional about the assault allegation and its clouding your judgement .
I find it condescending and patronizing to say that we are emotional. That’s a cheap shot that is all too often targeted at women when someone disagrees with them.
I just don’t get who deserves to win and who does not. How is that decided? What is the criteria pray tell for those who are deserving and those who are not.
I knew we’d agree on this NNY. Sport in general has an appalling history of turning a blind eye regarding allegations of abuse, and tennis is no exception, conveniently sweeoing this under the carpet.
As for being too “emotional” dearie me, that old chestnut. It’s a question of justice, nothing to do with emotion. Zverev should defend himself in a court of law and let the court decide, innocent or guilty.
But M!…As far as i know,wasn’t that young women who didn’t want to press charges against Zverev?Even tho we think she should!..Be brave like the ex wife of Basilashvili for once!
And she also can clear her name after Zverev’s parent branded her as ‘a party girl & that kind of girl’…so…her stand to not drag Zverev to court is mysterious to me!
I was talking purely objectively about his tennis ,the allegations were nothing to do with that nor the moral judgement / legal process .
However, it was bound to happen that the conversation would be twisted away from tennis and onto a more juicy subject
Margot,
Yes of course we would agree. Thank you so much for reminding us of these allegations. I take nothing away from Zverev for winning. But these allegations are extremely serious and disturbing. I don’t know that justice will ever be served. Mira Andi did say that his girlfriend was not prosecuting him. Another reason that she has nothing to gain in telling her story.
I did not know that Zverev’s parents attacked this girl. Not surprising. Of course they would trash her. I did not know anything about Basilashvili. But this is why women don’t come forward. she knows he has fans who will stand by him no matter what.
It is unfortunate that these allegations are swept under the rug. That’s why it will continue.
Big Al has managed to patronise you and me and trivialise a very serious issue. Wow!
Zverev will win the gold medal in Tokyo
Juicy subject? Excuse me? I don’t think the allegations of domestic abuse are a “juicy” subject! This young woman had nothing to gain by coming forward with her story. Just reading your comments tells me all I need to know. This is what women face even today in 2021 when they come forward. It’s not nothing. But I realize that done will chose not hear me or will minizmize it. Nothing new about that.
The issue of who is deserving is separate from allegations of domestic abuse. I just don’t understand where we decide who is deserving and who is not. Zverev won the gold medal. He earned it by beating the best player and then winning the final. So he has a gold medal. I am not disparaging him for that. But I just don’t get how done are deemed deserving. Whoever wins is deserving. They played the matches, out in the effort and reap the rewards. I am not taking that away from him. I already had become fed up with Zverev’s ego and attitude before his girlfriend cane out with her allegations. They are very concerning to me. But it is her word against his. Fans of his will of course not believe this young woman. It did not improve my negative opinion of him.
Some will choose to not hear me!
Throughout this whole conversation, I have simply said that Zverev deserves to win a big title ,and since he won it fairly , at least we agree on that . I’m only talking about tennis on this thread , others had to bring in a much more controversial subject , and probably more interesting one, hence my ‘juicy’ comment .Sorry if I appeared patronising or insulting to anyones intelligence , but I cant see what I wrote in the first place has anything to do with Zverev private life or the wider issue of womens rights.If you cant see the simple logic in what I write , then maybe you are just a wee bit emotional (no offence meant )
I think both players are playing ‘career best’ tennis atm. Zverev deserves slight favoritism but I dont think there’s much in this. Anything less than what he produced against Djokovic will earn him the silver.
Should be a great contest between two worthy finalists that have been on a tear for a while now.
Khachanov won their last 2 meetings convincingly also
2019 ATP Masters 1000 Canada
Canada Outdoor Hard QF Karen Khachanov
63 63
2018 ATP Masters 1000 Paris
France Indoor Hard QF Karen Khachanov
61 62
There’s plenty to like about Khachanov.
Congrats to Alex Zverev! An Olympics Gold medalist now! Well done! First male German player to win an Olympics gold medal in tennis singles, wow!
Rublev won the mixed doubles gold with Karatsev winning the silver; What a week for the Russians!
It’s worth a celebration seeing the Russian tennis players getting an Olympic medal!
Pavlyuchenkova/Rublev gold medals
Vesnina/Karatsev silver medals
Congrats to all!
😕😮 Who got the bronze medal… Oh, Has to be Barty and Peers. I want to see the full ceremony for mixed doubles.
dear me. I am confused about mixed doubles.
Yes, Djokovic pulled out of the mixed bronze match so Barty/Peers won.
Yes, I finally saw a repeat of the ceremony for mixed doubles. Thank you for confirming Ramara. There was a while last night that I thought my mind had lost the plot. It ended quite well. A great fight between the two ROC tennis teams was very entertaining!