Alexander Zverev is finally a Grand Slam champion. The German beat Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in five sets at the French Open on Sunday. The score was 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 on Court Philippe-Chatrier. It was his first major title in his fourth final.
Here is a stat that hits hard. No German man had won a major since Boris Becker in 1996. Zverev had not even been born yet. He just ended a 30-year wait.
Let me say what every tennis fan was thinking for years. Zverev was the best player to never win a major. That label is gone now.
Remember the 2020 US Open final? He led against Dominic Thiem, then let it slip in five sets. A loss like that follows a player around.
He kept getting close, then kept falling short. He lost to Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros in 2024. He then lost to Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open. Three finals, three heartbreaks.
So when he fell on his back in tears Sunday, it made sense. “We have been through injury, heartbreaks, losses,” Zverev said on court. The relief was the whole story.
How a thin French Open draw opened Zverev’s path
Here is the honest part. This draw fell apart for everyone else. Alcaraz withdrew with a wrist injury. Sinner lost in the second round. Djokovic went out in the third to teenager Joao Fonseca.
Every fan knows what that means. The toughest opponents were gone before the final weekend. Zverev still had to win his matches, and he did.
Does an asterisk belong here? No. You beat who shows up. Zverev reached a fourth final and finally closed the door.
His four Grand Slam finals tell the whole journey.
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | US Open | Dominic Thiem | Lost in five sets |
| 2024 | French Open | Carlos Alcaraz | Lost |
| 2025 | Australian Open | Jannik Sinner | Lost |
| 2026 | French Open | Flavio Cobolli | Won in five sets |
How Zverev beat Cobolli in the French Open final
The final was not pretty. Cobolli, the No. 10 seed, refused to fold. He took the second set, then grabbed the fourth in a tiebreak.
Zverev even fought through cramps in the fifth set. The old doubts could have crept back in. This time they did not.
His serve carried him home. He leaned on it hard in the deciding set, taking it 6-1. That is how you bury a final.
His game has changed a lot over the years. The serve that once cost him double faults is now a weapon. His forehand looks far sharper too.
Zverev also remains a divisive figure off the court. Two former partners have accused him of domestic abuse. An ATP investigation into the first claims closed in 2023 over insufficient evidence. A later court case ended in a 2024 settlement, with Zverev paying 200,000 euros. Per BBC Sport, the result was not a verdict or a finding of guilt. He has always denied wrongdoing.
Zverev stays a polarizing name in the sport. In Paris, plenty of fans pulled for the underdog Cobolli on Sunday.
Here is what matters for the rest of his career. The pressure is off him now. That weight is gone, and it makes him dangerous at the other majors.
Wimbledon comes next, and grass rewards that big serve. Do not be shocked if he makes a deep run there too. Winning the first one is always the hardest.
Zverev said it best himself. “No matter what happens, I will always be a Grand Slam champion,” he said Sunday. Nobody can take that away from him.
For a player who waited more than a decade, that is a sentence he earned.
