German star Alexander Zverev finally won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open, after beating Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-7(5) 6-1 in the final.
With the sun shining down on Court Philippe Chatrier, Zverev broke Cobolli with a backhand shot that pinged off the Italian’s orange-framed racket, and he tightened his grip further to wrap up the opening set with a forehand winner down the middle.
Cobolli fired himself up and produced stunning shot-making to break in the seventh game of the next set and then drew level with a confident hold, as the centre court crowd whipped up a soccer-like atmosphere for the former AS Roma academy player.
Those voices soon fell silent deep in the third set as 10th seed Cobolli struck a forehand into the net to gift Zverev a set point, and the German promptly regained the advantage thanks to another unforced error.
A spell of passive play from Zverev meant he was broken twice in the fourth set, but the German dialled up the intensity to go level at 5-5, only to crack under pressure in the tiebreak as Cobolli fired a forehand rocket to force a decider.
Defeats in his three previous Grand Slam finals, at the U.S. Open in 2020, the French Open in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2025, had raised questions about whether Zverev would ever cross the finish line, but the 29-year-old proved his doubters wrong.
With the closing stages of the contest lacking the quality of last year’s epic between Alcaraz and Sinner, Zverev edged in front and used all his experience to reel away the games and finally earn his long-awaited crown.
“This trophy helps the belief a lot … this year is one of the happiest moments in my career,” Zverev said.“To be honest, I’m a little bit drunk already … I’m just happy to be sitting next to this trophy.”
“Now, no matter what happens, I’ll always be a Grand Slam champion, and nobody can take that away from me. Maybe that does give me some freedom. Maybe my mind will be calmer when I play a final … even if I lose, I’ll still be a Grand Slam champion.”
“This trophy for me is very important, because if I’d have lost this one, the self-belief would have gone down a lot. Now that I’ve won it, I feel I can do it again,” he mentioned.
The 24-year-old Cobolli was left to rue a missed chance to return the Roland Garros men’s title to Italy for the first time in 50 years after Adriano Panatta beat American Harold Solomon in the 1976 title clash.
“It’s not easy for me to talk right now, but I want to start with you, Ale,” Cobolli said. “If someone asked me who deserved this title more, I would always say you. It’s been an honour, through our relationship, to share the court today.”
“I’m happy for you, but I’m also sad, because I was close, and I feel it now. You achieved your dream. Let me win the next time.”
 6-1.){kind=link}