Advertisement

Alexander Zverev Pulled Off a Crazy Upset Coming Back From The Dead To Knock Novak Djokovic Out Of The Olympics And Deny Him His Golden Slam

picture alliance. Getty Images.

Zverev def. Djokovic 1-6 6-3 6-1

Crazy crazy stuff happened in the middle of the night as Germany's Alexander Zverev took down Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Olympics, denying the world number 1 his golden slam (all 4 grand slams and the gold medal). Even crazier is that Novak was leading this best of three set match 6-1 3-2, up a break in the 2nd, just a few games away from moving on to the final. He had never reached an olympic final before, chasing that gold medal he has always wanted but could never have. Those dreams remain unreached as Zverev went nuts to win 10 of the last 11 games, refusing to make a mistake, and overpowered the Serbian to win the match. Insane stuff. Dude was unplayable in the 3rd set. 

Novak has always wanted a gold medal and made that very obvious. He's left the court in tears before in previous Olympics after failing to reach the finals. He was very gracious in defeat this time realizing how good Zverev had just played to win that match, but man him losing like this on hardcourt was very unexpected. He was noticeably devastated afterwards 

"Tough day man, really tough day. I feel so terrible right now. Can't be positive right now."

Hate to see it. That's the best you will ever see Alexander Zverev play. Known mostly as a choke artist with all the talent in the world, he finally was able to put it all together and out-Novak Novak Djokovic. 

You NEVER see Djokovic lose 10 of 11 games anywhere, especially with the stakes as high as they were this morning. Novak looked invincible heading into this match, and up until the point it all fell apart he looked that was as well. This is a complete stunner. Now we'll get Russia's Karen Khachanov vs. Zverev for the gold medal as everyone expected.