Zverev wins maiden Grand Slam with thrilling five-set victory at Roland Garros

Alexander Zverev finally captured his first Grand Slam title with a dramatic five-set victory over Italian Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final on Sunday.

The No. 2 seed became the first German man to win a major since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open, prevailing 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 after 4 hours and 16 minutes.

“This court is very special to me in many ways… but in the end, it had a happy ending,” Zverev said after the match. The 29-year-old had suffered a severe ankle injury during his 2022 semifinal against Rafael Nadal on the same Philippe Chatrier court, and also lost a five-set final to Carlos Alcaraz in 2024.

This was Zverev’s fourth Grand Slam final and second at Roland Garros, following painful near-misses throughout his career. “We have lost, we have been the losers in the most important moments,” he said during the trophy ceremony, turning to his team. “But in the end, now we are Grand Slam champions, and that is what matters.”

Cobolli, the No. 10 seed, was attempting to become the first Italian man to win the French Open since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago. The 24-year-old had never played a Grand Slam semifinal before, let alone a final, after his semifinal opponent Matteo Arnaldi withdrew due to illness.

“It’s not easy for me to speak now,” Cobolli said after receiving the runner-up trophy from Panatta, before telling Zverev: “I am happy for you, but also sad because I was so close and I felt it. Now you have achieved your dream—let me win next time.”

Both players showed signs of tension at various points, especially Cobolli in an error-filled first set. However, Zverev’s experience paid off in the deciding set, which was more tightly contested than the scoreline suggests.

Zverev had a golden opportunity to break his Grand Slam “curse” thanks to the injury absence of defending champion Alcaraz, along with early exits for Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. The world No. 3 did not always control the match, committing 54 unforced errors, but did enough to shed the tag of “best player never to win a Grand Slam.”

Earlier in his career, Zverev had lost six Grand Slam quarterfinals and seven semifinals, along with three defeats in finals. The most painful memory was his first Grand Slam final at the 2020 US Open, where he led Dominic Thiem by two sets and missed championship points before losing. The retired Thiem watched from the stands at Roland Garros as Zverev erased that memory after six years.

Cobolli’s shaky start

Cobolli began nervously and struggled with the final’s atmosphere, as the first set flew by in 39 minutes with 16 unforced errors. He steadied in the second set with three straight service holds before unexpectedly breaking in the seventh game.

After Zverev lost focus with two double faults and a forehand error, Cobolli grew in confidence and closed out the set to breathe life into the final. The higher-quality third set slipped away from Cobolli in the 10th game when, from 30-0, he lost four consecutive points including a badly missed forehand on set point.

The world No. 14, who will break into the top 10 for the first time next week, responded immediately by breaking in the opening game of the fourth set. He could not pull away as both players exchanged breaks, including Cobolli when he served for the set at 5-4. However, the Italian rallied to force a tiebreak, winning it with a scorching forehand winner on his second set point.

After a pause before the start of the fifth set, Zverev seized control with a break in the first game. Cobolli’s hopes nearly vanished when he missed a break-back point and then dropped serve again, falling 0-3 down. Zverev fought off three break points in the fourth game and marched to victory from there, collapsing onto the clay in joy after Cobolli missed a forehand overhead on the second championship point.