Forty-eight hours removed from knocking off top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the men's singles semifinal, world No. 5 Alexander Zverev finished the job with a straight sets win over ROC's Karen Khachanov.
Khachanov, the 12-seed in the men's singles tournament and the underdog in the gold medal match, came out stronger by winning the first game. Zverev responded by breaking serve and winning the next three. From there, he cruised, winning the opening set 6-3.
In the second set, Zverev really came to life. He won the first five sets, cruised to a 6-1 win, and earned the gold medal in men's singles.
Zverev, who reached the final of the 2020 U.S. Open but has never won a major, only dropped one set in his five matches on the way to the top step of the podium — the opening set against the world No. 1.
Zverev and Khachanov both also competed in men's doubles, but neither took home hardware. Zverev, along with teammate Jan-Lennard Struff, was eliminated in the quarterfinal, while Khachanov lost in the first round alongside Andrey Rublev.
Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Djokovic on Saturday to win the bronze medal.
