Welcome to Take Five, a new weekly series at USOpen.org recapping five of the biggest stories of the last seven days on the professional tennis circuit. After the tennis competitions at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics wrapped up this weekend, we take a look at the medal-winners and prevailing storylines from Japan. Meanwhile, the US Open Series continued stateside with the Atlanta Open.
Zverev beats Djokovic en route to singles gold
Alexander Zverev ended the "Golden Slam" bid of the Serbian world No. 1 with a three-set comeback victory in the Tokyo semifinals. Down a set and a break midway through the second, the German rattled off eight straight games to take command over a tiring Djokovic. Rediscovering the powerful offense that's helped him remain a fixture in the ATP's Top 5 since 2017, he clinched a spot in the gold-medal match with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory.
"I told him that he's the greatest of all time, and he will be," Zverev said of their post-match embrace. “I knew he was chasing a Golden Slam, but you can’t win everything,
Zverev's sparkling form was rewarded with the shine of a gold medal after he powered past Russia's Karen Khachanov, 6-3, 6-1, in the final.
In the bronze-medal match, Djokovic once again faded late as Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta put on a near-flawless serving display to win, 6-4, 6-7. 6-3. The two-time US Open semifinalist (2017, 2020) was never broken in the match.
“It’s a bronze medal, but for me it’s like a gold," he said in an emotional post-match interview. "I haven’t won the tournament, but it’s the best title of my career."
Bencic takes singles gold, doubles silver
Belinda Bencic brought home two medals for Switzerland, with her women's singles gold coming courtesy of a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. The two-and-a-half-hour final gives the world No. 12 Swiss, whose ranking dropped outside the Top 300 after wrist surgery in 2017, a signature title at the age of 24.
"For me, [the Olympics] is the biggest thing ever for an athlete," she said, "so I cannot believe I have two medals and one of them is gold."
In women's doubles, the Swiss duo of Bencic and Viktorija Golubic won match tiebreaks in each of the first two rounds, then booked a place in the gold-medal match with a pair of straight-setters. Their run was ended there by the top-seeded Czech pairing of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, 7-5, 6-1.
Vondrousova, Svitolina complete women's singles podium places
Vondrousova's silver medal capped her eventful Olympic Games. After entering with a protected ranking to claim the final spot on the Czech team over Karolina Muchova, the 22-year-old knocked off home favorite Naomi Osaka in the third round. She reached the semis after Spain's Paula Badosa pulled out, then eased past Elina Svitolina in the semis.
In the third-place match, Ukraine's Svitolina survived the relentless attack of Elena Rybakina to claim a 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 decision. The Kazakh Rybakina led 3-0 and 4-1 in the final set, but the newlywed Svitolina's fighting spirit and veteran poise helped her take control in the closing stages. She clinched the medal on her seventh match point.
Croatia dominates men's doubles, Russia owns mixed
Just as the WTA's top doubles team won gold, the ATP's No. 1-ranked duo of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic also finished atop the podium in Tokyo. In an all-Croatian final, the champions defeated Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig, 6-4, 3-6, [10-6]. Mektic and Pavic also won a match tiebreak in Round 2, against Italy's Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego. Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus claimed bronze for New Zealand.
The Russian Olympic Committee supplied both teams for the mixed doubles final, with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev edging Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev, 3-6, 7-6, [13-11]. Australia's Ashleigh Barty and John Peers took the mixed bronze, after Djokovic (parterning with Nina Stojanovic) withdrew before the third-place match with a left-shoulder injury.
Isner wins record sixth Atlanta Open title on US Open Series
John Isner claimed his first ATP title in two years in a familiar scene at the Truist Atlanta Open on Sunday. On the second stop of the 2021 US Open Series, the 36-year-old American won his record-extending sixth Atlanta title and the 16th ATP crown of his career. In a rematch of their semifinal at last week's Los Cabos Open, Isner avenged his loss to Brandon Nakashima with a 7-6, 7-5 victory.
Norway's Casper Ruud also enjoyed the familiar feeling of an ATP title last week, in Kitzbuhel, Austria. The 22-year-old has now won three ATP 250 titles in as many weeks, with an 11-0 record (plus one walkover) that also includes trophies in Sweden and Switzerland.
