Two weeks of nerves and tension across one of the most chaotic men’s grand slam tournaments in recent memory came to an appropriate conclusion as an excruciatingly tense five-set psychodrama ended with Alexander Zverev, the second seed, lifting his first grand slam title by holding off his own demons to close out a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 win over Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final.
For so long Zverev had won at every other level: he had triumphed at Masters 1000 events and twice at the ATP Finals, and he earned an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020. But he had lost in all three of his major finals. A grand slam, the biggest prize of all, had always evaded him.
From the moment Jannik Sinner, the top seed, and Novak Djokovic were bounced from the tournament in consecutive days, with Carlos Alcaraz absent because of injury, Zverev was clearly the best player remaining in the draw. Cobolli, the world No 14, turned out to be the only top-25 player in his path. This was an opportunity the German could not afford to let pass him by.
Addressing his team, Zverev, said: “We’ve been through injuries. We’ve been through heartbreak. We’ve been through losses. We’ve been losers at times in the important moments. But at the end of the day, we’re grand slam champions now and that’s what counts.”
A year on from one of the greatest finals, Alcaraz’s astounding comeback against Sinner, this edition at times made for a painful watch as nerves struck both sides of the net, drawing out fearful, erratic tennis. Zverev was a picture of tension and discomfort throughout the second half of the match, as his troubles with his forehand and second serve reared up again. He even cramped due to the emotional effort of trying to pull himself to victory. However, thrown into his first grand slam final, Cobolli felt the moment even more intensely. The German drew on his first serve and his experience to drag himself through the fifth set to the victory he has envisioned for so long.
“This court is so special to me in so many ways,” said Zverev. “I’ve had the best moments of my life on this court, I had the worst moment of my life on this court. I was laying in that corner over there with seven broken ligaments and two fractured bones. I lost. A grand slam final here two years ago. But now, finally, it’s a happy end.”
The German remains a popular figure at most tournaments, and the Philippe-Chatrier crowd cheerfully received his victory, but this result is uncomfortable for many fans and spectators around the world. Zverev has been accused of domestic violence by two of his former partners, Olya Sharypova and Brenda Patea. He has repeatedly denied both claims.
The second accusation, involving Patea, the mother of their child, led to a domestic violence case in Berlin, which began during the French Open in 2024, where he reached his second grand slam final. The two parties eventually settled the case out of court. During the trophy ceremony of his third grand slam final, against Sinner at the Australian Open last year, Zverev was heckled by an audience member, with the spectator disrupting his speech by shouting: “Australia believes Olya and Brenda.”
Considering how the last few days had gone for Cobolli, who reached his first grand slam final without striking a ball in the semi-final after his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi withdrew because of a virus, the underdog was understandably tense from the start. He was completely uncompetitive in the opening set.
The start of a new set allowed Cobolli to regroup and as he began to find his range with his forehand while courageously approaching the net and using his drop shot well, Zverev’s familiar forehand and second serve problems resurfaced. He double-faulted twice at 3-3 and then shanked a forehand wide on break point. But Zverev recovered in set three, completely outserving Cobolli throughout. While the German rolled through his service games without difficulty, his opponent landed 52% of his first serves and was constantly under pressure. Down 5-4, he finally crumbled under that pressure, spraying three wild unforced errors in four points from 30-0 up to lose the set.
It seemed as if Zverev might definitively begin to pull away, but the approaching finish line only invited fear. For much of the fourth set, he looked overwhelmed by his nerves. He was there for the taking, but Cobolli was also struggling. As he served for the fourth set at 5-4, his first-serve figures had fallen to 39% and he duly found himself in a tie-break.
Down 3-1 in the tie-break, Cobolli roared back and ended his brilliant last stand with a searing running forehand winner to make it two sets all. As he pumped his fists and shouted to his team, he had put himself within a set of victory. However, his energy reserves had also been exhausted. The Italian completely flatlined at the beginning of the final set, cheaply handing over his opening service game, and he never found his way back.
