Alex Zverev (Germany) beat Karen Khachanov (Russia) 6-3, 6-1 in the Olympic Games final, 2021 on hard court in Tokyo, Japan
Zverev was the fourth seed, Khachanov the twelfth. Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain), who Khachanov had beaten in the semi-final, would win the Bronze medal by beating Novak Djokovic (Serbia), who had lost to Zverev in the semis
Zverev won 65 points, Khachanov 43
Serve Stats
Zverev...
- 1st serve percentage (31/45) 69%
- 1st serve points won (26/31) 84%
- 2nd serve points won (8/14) 57%
- Aces 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/45) 31%
Khachanov...
- 1st serve percentage (39/63) 62%
- 1st serve points won (22/39) 56%
- 2nd serve points won (10/24) 42%
- Aces 3
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/63) 17%
Serve Patterns
Zverev served...
- to FH 53%
- to BH 47%
Khachanov served...
- to FH 39%
- to BH 58%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Zverev made...
- 51 (20 FH, 31 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (51/62) 82%
Khachanov made...
- 31 (16 FH, 15 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (4 FH, 1 BH)
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (31/45) 69%
Break Points
Zverev 4/8 (4 games)
Khachanov 0/1
Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Zverev 21 (10 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Khachanov 4 (3 FH, 1 BH)
Zverev's FHs - 4 cc (1 return), 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 inside-in/cc at net, 1 longline, 1 lob
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 4 dtl, 1 drop shot
Khachanov's FHs - 1 dtl, 1 inside-out at net, 1 inside-in
- BH - 1 cc
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Zverev 28
- 21 Unforced (7 FH, 13 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 non-net, swinging BHV
- 7 Forced (5 FH, 2 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.1
Khachanov 29
- 20 Unforced (12 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.1
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Zverev was 10/12 (83%) at net, with...
- 0/2 forced back/retreated
Khachanov was 5/9 (56%) at net
Match Report
Zverev crushes an out-matched Khachanov. Court is normal
Zverev goes through match unbroken and facing just one break. Khach holds 4 times and is broken four times. He manages to win 32/63 service points
21 winners, 21 UEs from Zverev, to go with healthy 31% unreturned serves
Khach has 4 winners, 20 UEs and 17% unreturned
That’s clear cut. Its based on differences in fundamentals of shot tolerance, movement and reactions. In these areas, Khach is not good enough to handle what he’s up against. It’s more a case of a mismatch (that is, contest between different calibre players) than Zver playing particularly well (though he does) or Khach playing badly
Big serving from Zver, healthy/hefty from Khach
Zver returns with cozy ease. Khach, not standing too far back, can’t handle pace of Zver’s serves. Serves in his swing zone, even ones honing in on his racquet face draw errors or are jarred back for mid-court sitters
Good in counts (Zver 69%, Khack 62%) for both
Zver has 6 aces or 19% of first serves, Khach 3 or 8%
Unreturned serves - Zver 31%, Khach 17%
Typical fat serving from Zver. Also typically, not too wide. It doesn’t have to be. Pace alone is good to draw errors or weak returns. Just 8 return errors from Khach is low, given he’s aced 6 times. By contrast, Zver returns with firmly, without trouble and swipes a few second serves wide and/or hard
Also 0 double faults for Zver amidst healthy second serving. For him, not at all to be taken for granted (both the no double faults and the normal second serving)
Winners - Zver 21, Khach 4
Errors forced - Zver 9, Khach 7
UEs - Zver 21, Khach 20
Only significant difference being winners. That’s partially due to serve drawing weak returns that are readily there to be putaway and by some very good shot-making from Zver, the BH more impressive. Khach rallies along stolidly, without getting openings to go for shots due to Zver hitting strongly off both wings and of course, his serve is neutralized by Zver’s return
Ground UEs -
- Zver FH & Khach BH 7
- Zver BH 13, Khach FH 12
… along with -
Neutral UEs - Zver 14, Khach 10
Attacking UES - Zver 6, Khach 5
Winner attempt UEs - Zver 1, Khach 5
… and ground winners -
Zver FH 10
Zver BH 7
Khach FH 3
Khach BH 1
Odd combo, all taken taken together
BH hitting is good from both players, with Zver giving up most neutral UEs. Strangely, he makes BH UEs in pairs throughout match (back to back points). Shot-making highlight comes from Zver’s BH, which knocks away some real beauties from routine positions. He’s got 4 dtl winners and 1 cc off the BH, amidst hard hitting rallies. They aren’t a product of drawing weak ball and dispatching it
BH rallying is good, solid tennis from both players, with Khach actually holding up lot better though Zver hits harder. And Zver’s shot-making off that side is spectacular to even things out. The dtl’s are brilliant, with some of them played from well behind baseline
By contrast, Zver’s large lot of FH winners are more product of drawing weak returns. He doesn’t necessarily dispatch the third ball for winners but has easy attacking shots to get on front foot. Ralllying neutrally, the hitting isn’t as impressive as BHs, Zver is steadier and Khack lashing out trying to attack or end points and usually failing
Just 1 winner attempt UE for Zver, to go with 21 winners is extraordinary. To be clear, his FH is also impressive in attack and finishing, just less so than BH and with significant support from the serve. Even dealing with putaway balls, 1 winner attempt UE would be great, and they’re far from all being putaway balls
Underlying all this is a large gap in fundamentals. Khach reacts more slowly than Zver. Khach’s movements are a little to slow to handle what he’s up against (which is good, clean hitting). Khach occasionally pops up weak balls against harder hit shots. These things are the spine of tennis, coming before even basic consistency and gap in them is likely to lead to this kind of thrashing
What else? Net points - Zver 10/12, Khach 5/9
Both points Zver loses is when he’s forced back or retreats from net, so he’s perfect when finishing at net. Khach not having much scope to come in with the hard hitting baseline rallies
Stand out shots of the match are a brilliant BH cc pass winner that’s similar to one Roger Federer hit against Andy Roddick in ‘07 Australian Open and an un-Zverev like, perfect FH lob winner. He’s usually not one to show much touch or feel
Match Progression
Zverev breaks for 4-1 with his FH starring - inside-in winner (point set up with a deep return), and winning dtl’s (1 forcing error, 1 setting up a smash winner)
He’s got 3 winners in consolidating to 15 (FHV set up by BH dtl, BH drop shot and FH cc)
Kach raises his only break point for match at 2-3, with Zver missing a pair of FHs. Can’t handle a pacey serve on it and Zver goes on to hold
Zver breaks again in 12 point game to end the set. Starts with lovely FH cc return winner and adds 2 first class BH dtl winners later (1 against a good ball, the other played so very easily against a FH inside-out). Bad FHV miss by Kach ends the set
Second set is even stronger from Zver. Holds to love to open with 3 winners - a putaway FH at net and 2 BH dtl’s. The last one is a brilliant, running shot after being on defensive for the rally
He’s at 5-0 not long after with many fine shots. Pick of ‘em are a BH cc pass winner against a blasted FH from close to service line, a beautiful, perfect FH lob winner and a fantastic BH cc winner from completely routine position. All of those are in game 4
Kach gets on the board with a couple net points and good serves for 5-1, before Zver serves out to 30, finishing with a couple net points
Summing up, impressive in all areas from Zverev. Big serving is normal enough for him, he’s very comfortable returning a healthy serve and he’s hard hitting off the ground, with excellent shot-making, especially off the BH
Its not so much that Khachanov plays badly as that he doesn’t look up to opponents basic standard. Both his reactions and movements are enough to get him into trouble in basic rally situations, and shot resistance is also found wanting. Hittting’s not bad but even there, not as good as his opponent
Zverev was the fourth seed, Khachanov the twelfth. Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain), who Khachanov had beaten in the semi-final, would win the Bronze medal by beating Novak Djokovic (Serbia), who had lost to Zverev in the semis
Zverev won 65 points, Khachanov 43
Serve Stats
Zverev...
- 1st serve percentage (31/45) 69%
- 1st serve points won (26/31) 84%
- 2nd serve points won (8/14) 57%
- Aces 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/45) 31%
Khachanov...
- 1st serve percentage (39/63) 62%
- 1st serve points won (22/39) 56%
- 2nd serve points won (10/24) 42%
- Aces 3
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/63) 17%
Serve Patterns
Zverev served...
- to FH 53%
- to BH 47%
Khachanov served...
- to FH 39%
- to BH 58%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Zverev made...
- 51 (20 FH, 31 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (51/62) 82%
Khachanov made...
- 31 (16 FH, 15 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (4 FH, 1 BH)
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (31/45) 69%
Break Points
Zverev 4/8 (4 games)
Khachanov 0/1
Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Zverev 21 (10 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Khachanov 4 (3 FH, 1 BH)
Zverev's FHs - 4 cc (1 return), 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 inside-in/cc at net, 1 longline, 1 lob
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 4 dtl, 1 drop shot
Khachanov's FHs - 1 dtl, 1 inside-out at net, 1 inside-in
- BH - 1 cc
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Zverev 28
- 21 Unforced (7 FH, 13 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 non-net, swinging BHV
- 7 Forced (5 FH, 2 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.1
Khachanov 29
- 20 Unforced (12 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.1
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Zverev was 10/12 (83%) at net, with...
- 0/2 forced back/retreated
Khachanov was 5/9 (56%) at net
Match Report
Zverev crushes an out-matched Khachanov. Court is normal
Zverev goes through match unbroken and facing just one break. Khach holds 4 times and is broken four times. He manages to win 32/63 service points
21 winners, 21 UEs from Zverev, to go with healthy 31% unreturned serves
Khach has 4 winners, 20 UEs and 17% unreturned
That’s clear cut. Its based on differences in fundamentals of shot tolerance, movement and reactions. In these areas, Khach is not good enough to handle what he’s up against. It’s more a case of a mismatch (that is, contest between different calibre players) than Zver playing particularly well (though he does) or Khach playing badly
Big serving from Zver, healthy/hefty from Khach
Zver returns with cozy ease. Khach, not standing too far back, can’t handle pace of Zver’s serves. Serves in his swing zone, even ones honing in on his racquet face draw errors or are jarred back for mid-court sitters
Good in counts (Zver 69%, Khack 62%) for both
Zver has 6 aces or 19% of first serves, Khach 3 or 8%
Unreturned serves - Zver 31%, Khach 17%
Typical fat serving from Zver. Also typically, not too wide. It doesn’t have to be. Pace alone is good to draw errors or weak returns. Just 8 return errors from Khach is low, given he’s aced 6 times. By contrast, Zver returns with firmly, without trouble and swipes a few second serves wide and/or hard
Also 0 double faults for Zver amidst healthy second serving. For him, not at all to be taken for granted (both the no double faults and the normal second serving)
Winners - Zver 21, Khach 4
Errors forced - Zver 9, Khach 7
UEs - Zver 21, Khach 20
Only significant difference being winners. That’s partially due to serve drawing weak returns that are readily there to be putaway and by some very good shot-making from Zver, the BH more impressive. Khach rallies along stolidly, without getting openings to go for shots due to Zver hitting strongly off both wings and of course, his serve is neutralized by Zver’s return
Ground UEs -
- Zver FH & Khach BH 7
- Zver BH 13, Khach FH 12
… along with -
Neutral UEs - Zver 14, Khach 10
Attacking UES - Zver 6, Khach 5
Winner attempt UEs - Zver 1, Khach 5
… and ground winners -
Zver FH 10
Zver BH 7
Khach FH 3
Khach BH 1
Odd combo, all taken taken together
BH hitting is good from both players, with Zver giving up most neutral UEs. Strangely, he makes BH UEs in pairs throughout match (back to back points). Shot-making highlight comes from Zver’s BH, which knocks away some real beauties from routine positions. He’s got 4 dtl winners and 1 cc off the BH, amidst hard hitting rallies. They aren’t a product of drawing weak ball and dispatching it
BH rallying is good, solid tennis from both players, with Khach actually holding up lot better though Zver hits harder. And Zver’s shot-making off that side is spectacular to even things out. The dtl’s are brilliant, with some of them played from well behind baseline
By contrast, Zver’s large lot of FH winners are more product of drawing weak returns. He doesn’t necessarily dispatch the third ball for winners but has easy attacking shots to get on front foot. Ralllying neutrally, the hitting isn’t as impressive as BHs, Zver is steadier and Khack lashing out trying to attack or end points and usually failing
Just 1 winner attempt UE for Zver, to go with 21 winners is extraordinary. To be clear, his FH is also impressive in attack and finishing, just less so than BH and with significant support from the serve. Even dealing with putaway balls, 1 winner attempt UE would be great, and they’re far from all being putaway balls
Underlying all this is a large gap in fundamentals. Khach reacts more slowly than Zver. Khach’s movements are a little to slow to handle what he’s up against (which is good, clean hitting). Khach occasionally pops up weak balls against harder hit shots. These things are the spine of tennis, coming before even basic consistency and gap in them is likely to lead to this kind of thrashing
What else? Net points - Zver 10/12, Khach 5/9
Both points Zver loses is when he’s forced back or retreats from net, so he’s perfect when finishing at net. Khach not having much scope to come in with the hard hitting baseline rallies
Stand out shots of the match are a brilliant BH cc pass winner that’s similar to one Roger Federer hit against Andy Roddick in ‘07 Australian Open and an un-Zverev like, perfect FH lob winner. He’s usually not one to show much touch or feel
Match Progression
Zverev breaks for 4-1 with his FH starring - inside-in winner (point set up with a deep return), and winning dtl’s (1 forcing error, 1 setting up a smash winner)
He’s got 3 winners in consolidating to 15 (FHV set up by BH dtl, BH drop shot and FH cc)
Kach raises his only break point for match at 2-3, with Zver missing a pair of FHs. Can’t handle a pacey serve on it and Zver goes on to hold
Zver breaks again in 12 point game to end the set. Starts with lovely FH cc return winner and adds 2 first class BH dtl winners later (1 against a good ball, the other played so very easily against a FH inside-out). Bad FHV miss by Kach ends the set
Second set is even stronger from Zver. Holds to love to open with 3 winners - a putaway FH at net and 2 BH dtl’s. The last one is a brilliant, running shot after being on defensive for the rally
He’s at 5-0 not long after with many fine shots. Pick of ‘em are a BH cc pass winner against a blasted FH from close to service line, a beautiful, perfect FH lob winner and a fantastic BH cc winner from completely routine position. All of those are in game 4
Kach gets on the board with a couple net points and good serves for 5-1, before Zver serves out to 30, finishing with a couple net points
Summing up, impressive in all areas from Zverev. Big serving is normal enough for him, he’s very comfortable returning a healthy serve and he’s hard hitting off the ground, with excellent shot-making, especially off the BH
Its not so much that Khachanov plays badly as that he doesn’t look up to opponents basic standard. Both his reactions and movements are enough to get him into trouble in basic rally situations, and shot resistance is also found wanting. Hittting’s not bad but even there, not as good as his opponent
