Alexander Zverev's claim of Olympic gold medal being bigger than Grand Slam title deemed a "bluff" by Jimmy Connors' son Brett
Jimmy Connors and his son Brett recently challenged Alexander Zverev's previous claim that an Olympic gold medal holds more significance than a Grand Slam title.
Zverev won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics after defeating Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-1 in the final. He made history with his win, becoming the first German man to clinch the men's singles gold medal at the Olympics.
Following his win, the German dismissed any discussions about his campaign for his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2021 US Open, emphasizing that for him, nothing surpassed the significance of winning the Olympic gold.
"I don't want to talk about the next Grand Slam because I have just won the Olympic Games - and there is nothing bigger than the Olympic Games. I want to enjoy this one for two minutes," he said. (via BBC).
Amid the debate sparked by Patrick Mouratoglou's assertion that tennis players value Grand Slam titles significantly more than Olympic medals, Jimmy Connors and his son Brett weighed in on the issue during the latest epsiode of the Advantage Connors podcast.
Brett Connors recalled Alexander Zverev's remarks regarding an Olympic gold medal being bigger than any other title in the sport and called a "bluff" on the German's claims.
"I know that the Olympics became more of a sport after you retired so you weren’t really able to play in them but I just wanted to get your take because I think certain players like Alexander Zverev, who won the gold, says that that’s bigger than a Grand Slam. Sometimes I think I call a bluff on that," Brett Connors said at 5:15 on the 'Listener Q&A with Jimmy and Brett' episode of the Advantage Connors podcast.
Jimmy Connors agreed with his son's views, suggesting that Zverev's statement stemmed from the fact that although he won an Olympic gold medal, he had not yet clinched a Grand Slam title.
"That’s because he hasn’t won a Grand Slam and he’s won a gold medal," he said.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion also disclosed his own preference for winning a Major title over an Olympic gold medal.
"Everybody has their own thoughts and their feelings on that. For me, I would rather have won a Grand Slam but hey, that’s just me," he said.
"I find it interesting Alexander Zverev would say he'd rather have an Olympic medal when he doesn't have a Grand Slam yet" - Jimmy Connors' son Brett
Jimmy Connors' son Brett continued to challenge Alexander Zverev's claim, pointing out that while it was reasonable for players with multiple Grand Slam titles to prioritize an Olympic gold medal, it was surprising for Zverev to do so given that he hasn't won a Grand Slam title yet.
"I think it’s one of those things too, where it’s like you’ve got a bunch of Grand Slams like hey sure an Olympic medal would be cool because then it "completes the resume" or something but I find it interesting he would say he’d rather have a medal than a Slam when, like you said, he doesn’t have a Slam yet," he said.
Alexander Zverev has played in one Grand Slam final in his career, narrowly losing to Dominic Thiem in a five-set thriller at the 2020 US Open. Additionally, the German reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2020 and the French Open in 2021, 2022 and 2023. He also reached the US Open semifinals in 2021.