In the French Open final on Sunday, Alexander Zverev defeated a stubborn Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 to win his first major title at Roland Garros, thereby shattering the barrier between himself and Grand Slam glory.
Zverev completed a relentless run by becoming the first German to win a major title since Boris Becker’s victory at the Australian Open three decades ago, after losing three times at the final hurdle, including in Paris two years ago.
Zverev broke Cobolli with a backhand stroke that bounced off the Italian’s orange-framed racket as the sun shone on Court Philippe Chatrier. He then tightened his grip even more to finish the first set with a forehand winner down the middle.
As the center court crowd created a soccer-like atmosphere for the former AS Roma youth player, Cobolli heated up and exhibited incredible shot-making to break in the seventh game of the next set, then pulled level with a confident hold.
Deep in the third set, 10th seed Cobolli gave Zverev a set point with a forehand into the net, and the German quickly reclaimed the lead with another unforced error, silencing those screams.
Zverev was broken twice in the fourth set due to a period of lethargic play, but the German increased his intensity to equalize the score at 5-5. However, Cobolli’s forehand rocket in the tiebreak caused the German to crumble under pressure and force a tiebreaker.
Zverev used all of his experience to eventually win his long-awaited crown, even though the final stages of the competition lacked the brilliance of last year’s blockbuster between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
