Alexander Zverev aims for US Open after Olympic triumph

Newly crowned Olympic men’s tennis champion Alexander Zverev arrived home in Germany to meet a hero on Tuesday before turning his attention to trying to win a first Grand Slam title at the US Open later this month.

The 24-year-old touched down in Germany, two days after brushing aside Karen Khachanov in a 6-3, 6-1 victory to take the men’s singles Olympic title in Tokyo on Sunday.

Zverev joked that he had left his bag of rackets on the baggage carousel – “I won’t need it for a few days now anyway” – after being met by a crowd of hundreds of fans – including his pet dogs – in Hamburg.

“Now I want to enjoy all this for a few days,” he added, “then I will think about the US Open” which starts on August 30.

Zverev, ranked fifth in the world, reached his first – and only – Grand Slam final in New York last year.Despite the long journey home, Zverev was still buzzing from his victory in Tokyo, where the feeling of winning gold “was the best I will ever have in my career, I can’t even describe it”.

He has now “won everything except a Grand Slam. Of course, that remains the big goal,” Zverev added with one eye on the US Open.

Zverev, who was born in Hamburg, has a busy few days of appointments, including a whistle-stop trip to sign the Hanseatic City’s ‘Golden Book’.

The ornate volume, donated to the city in 1897, has over the years featured famous figures and high-ranking guests from politics, business, culture and sport.

“I’m deeply honoured to get this opportunity,” Zverev said after writing in the book. “A dream has come true – the gold medal is in Hamburg.”