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sports Diaranson 1 september 2021

Olympic champ Zverev wins at US Open; Djokovic set to begin

(AP) — Olympic gold Djokovic would break a tie That made Zverev one
medalist Alexander with Roger Federer and Ra- of three men, along with
Zverev ran his winning fael Nadal for most major Djokovic and Casper Ruud,
streak to 12 matches by titles among men if he wins with four titles this season.
beating Sam Querrey 6-4, the tournament. They all
7-5, 6-2 on Tuesday in the have 20. Barty won Wimbledon for
first round of the U.S. her second major title and
Open. The No. 1 seed on the wom- now is back in New York
en’s side is also in action, after remaining in Australia
The No. 4 seed from Germa- with Ash Barty facing 2010 last year when the event was
ny stopped Novak Djokov- U.S. Open runner-up Vera played with no fans because
ic’s quest for a Golden Slam Zvonareva in the match after of the coronavirus pandemic.
in Tokyo and is among the Zverev.
players with the best chance No. 4 seed Karolina Plis-
to prevent a Grand Slam in Zverev came as close as could kova, the 2016 U.S. Open
New York. be to winning his first ma- runner-up who lost to Barty
jor title last year in Flush- in the Wimbledon final, beat
Zverev, the runner-up here ing Meadows. He took the American teenager Caty Mc-
last year, followed up his vic- first two sets against Domi- Nally 6-3, 6-4. No. 17 seed
tory in the Olympics by win- nic Thiem before losing in a Maria Sakkari topped Marta
ning the hard-court title at fifth-set tiebreaker, becom- Kostyuk 6-4, 6-3.
Cincinnati. ing the first player to lose the
U.S. Open final after win- Reilly Opelka, the No.
“The past year has been very, ning the first two sets since 22-seeded man, swept past
very good for me. I had a Frederick Schroeder in 1949. Soonwoo Kwon and fellow
lot of success on the court,” American Mackenzie Mc-
Zverev said. “I also enjoyed He certainly looks capable of Donald upset No. 27 seed
life outside the court as well finishing the job this time. David Goffin 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.
so I hope it continues that He stormed past Djokovic
way.” in the final two sets of their
Olympic semifinal and then
Djokovic plays his first- rolled past Karen Khachanov
round match Tuesday night in the final.
against Danish qualifier Hol-
ger Rune. The top-ranked He followed that with his
Djokovic is trying to become win at Cincinnati, where he
the first men’s player since beat Stefanos Tsitsipas and
1969 to win all four Grand Andrey Rublev, both among
Slam tournaments in one the top five seeds in New
year. York.