Alexander Zverev finally landed the Grand Slam title that threatened to elude him by overcoming Flavio Cobolli and his own nerves to win a tense French Open final in five sets
The 29-year-old German secured his first, long-awaited major triumph with a 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-7, 5-7, 6-1 victory over 10th seed Cobolli in Paris.
After losing his three previous Grand Slam finals, second seed Zverev became increasingly tight against an opponent playing in his first championship match.
That was in marked contrast to the start of the match, with Zverev racing through the first set and quickly reasserting his authority after Cobolli snatched the second.
But the stress levels increased for Zverev in a dramatic fourth set where he twice fell a break down, produced a series of costly double faults and needed electrolytes to fight off cramp.
Cobolli could not serve the fourth set out at 5-4 up and blew his first set point in the tie-break by framing a simple forehand volley but recovered to force a decider.
Both men continued to show anxiety in a final set which veered between entertaining and excruciating to watch.
Zverev made slightly fewer errors to move a double break ahead at 3-0 and dragged himself over the line as the 24-year-old Cobolli ran out of steam.
When Cobolli sent a smash long on the second match point, Zverev instantly fell backwards onto the clay and sobbed into his hands.
World number three Zverev is the first man other than Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz to win a Grand Slam singles title since 2023.
The leading two players had swept the past nine majors between them, but Sinner’s early exit in Paris, and Alcaraz’s absence with injury, provided a golden opportunity for the rest of the field.
Zverev assumed the mantle as title favorite – and, despite the burden of expectation, has managed to deliver at long last.
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Zverev has been tipped to win one of the sport’s biggest prizes since he emerged as a teenager – but his journey to a major trophy has taken longer than many expected.
As a precocious youngster, he caught the eye of seasoned stars including Roger Federer as he followed his older brother Mischa – an Australian Open quarterfinalist in 2017 – around on tour.
With his parents also having played professionally, the younger Zverev described himself as being “born with a racquet in my hand” – and he has ultimately developed into one of the world’s leading stars.
Zverev has sat comfortably inside the top 10 for most of the past nine years, encountering few problems while sweeping up the biggest ATP Tour titles. But getting over the line at a Grand Slam has been a different story.
His chances of winning the most prestigious trophies were initially hampered by the presence of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and then by the emergence of Sinner and Alcaraz.
Technical issues with his second serve, and a tendency to play passively against the very best, also let him down.
After losing his first three Grand Slam finals, many wondered whether Zverev had missed his opportunity.
This was probably not his last chance – but it was undoubtedly his best.
Zverev settled quickly as Cobolli’s nerves showed, using his powerful groundstrokes to devastating effect in a first set lasting only 35 minutes.
The second seed barely lost a service point at the start of the second set before Cobolli broke for 4-3 – helped by two double faults from Zverev – on his way to levelling.
Zverev’s ability to inject more pace in the baseline exchanges helped him decisively break in the 10th game of the third set, but tension took hold in a dramatic fourth set.
To Zverev’s credit, he reset admirably to claim the decider – before the emotion of what he had achieved was uncorked.
Many people thought the French Open men’s final would be contested by an Italian – but that was expected to be Sinner, not Cobolli.
Once overwhelming favorite Sinner was beaten in the second round, it was difficult to predict who would emerge from the top half of the men’s draw.
Ultimately it was Cobolli, who had never gone beyond the Paris third round until this year.
Contesting a major final was a considerable step up in occasion and playing Zverev was another leap in class.
Cobolli could not cope with either in the opening exchanges and, while he warmed to the task in the second set, the slow start proved costly.
Nevertheless, it has been a coming-of-age moment for Cobolli, whose baseline power, deft touch and athleticism is a match for anyone.
“I started playing when I was young and I never expected this kind of result,” said Cobolli, who was a footballer in Roma’s academy before concentrating on tennis.
“Now that I’m here, I just want to make something special possible. “For me, it’s not done, it’s only the start.”
BBC
