Tennis: German Alexander Zverev wins gold at 2020 Summer Games

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- No. 5 Alexander Zverev of Germany capped off his stellar run in Tokyo with an Olympic gold medal, beating the Russian Olympic Committee's Karen Khachanov in straight sets in the men's final Sunday at Ariake Tennis Park.

The victory made Zverev the first German man to win gold in Olympic singles competition.

"There is nothing better than this," Zverev told the International Tennis Federation. "You are not only playing for yourself, you are playing for your country, and the Olympics are the biggest sporting event in the world.

"The feeling I have now, and will have, nothing will be better."

Zverev needed just 79 minutes to dispatch of his 25th-ranked foe. He fired six aces and 22 winners and converted four of eight break points in the 6-3, 6-1 triumph on centre court. Khachanov failed to convert his lone break point opportunity.

Zverev, 24, started his gold medal run with a first-round win over Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei. He then beat Colombia's Daniel Elahi Galan in the second round. Zverev beat Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in the third round and France's Jeremy Chardy in the quarterfinals.

He then upset No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the semifinals to advance to the gold medal match. No. 11 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain upset Djokovic again in the men's bronze medal match Saturday in Tokyo.

Khachanov, who claimed the silver medal in men's singles, beat Carreno Busta in straight sets in his semifinal match.

He also earned tournament wins over Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, James Duckworth of Australia, No. 13 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina and Ugo Humbert of France.

No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland beat No. 42 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the women's gold medal match Saturday in Tokyo. No. 6 Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine won the bronze medal in women's singles.

No. 11 Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic beat Bencic and Viktorija Golubic in the women's doubles gold medal match Sunday in Tokyo.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev beat Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev in an all-Russian Olympic Committee gold medal match for the mixed doubles title.