Tokyo Olympics: Germany’s Zverev wins men’s singles tennis gold

Germany’s tennis ace Alexander Zverev has beaten Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-1 to win the men’s singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 24-year-old was in top form on Sunday as he defeated Khachanov in 79 minutes to become the first German man to win singles Olympic gold.

The world number five, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, was flawless throughout and grabbed an early break to cruise to a 3-1 lead in the first set. There were no signs of any nerves as he broke Khachanov again and bagged the set when his opponent sent an easy volley wide on the German’s second set point.

Not even the loud protests of a handful of anti-Olympic demonstrators, booming onto centre court through a bullhorn, could distract Zverev as he broke Khachanov again in the second game of the second set.

The German remained in complete control, thundering backhand winners past his opponent who could only look on as he settled for silver.

Zverev became only the second German to win Olympic singles gold, matching Steffi Graff’s achievement at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Germany also won Olympic gold in the doubles with Boris Becker and Michael Stich at the 1992 Barcelona Games