Alexander Zverev beats Flavio Cobolli in five-set epic to win 2026 French Open
No more bridesmaids.
Alexander Zverev finally joined German tennis legends Steffi Graf and Boris Becker as grand slam champions, losing his status as the best player without a major title when he edged Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 in Sunday’s Roland-Garros final.
The three-time grand slam runner-up collapsed on the Paris ground in an emotional moment after a last-ditch effort was rewarded when Cobolli curled a header wide of the baseline to win the match.
The exciting competition lasted 4 hours and 16 minutes, and the men’s final went the distance for the third consecutive time. It was a fitting culmination to two weeks of sadness and drama.
“I experienced the best moments of my life on this court and the worst moment of my life on these courts,” Zverev said.
“Four years ago I was lying there in that corner [during a semi-final against Rafael Nadal] There are seven ligament fractures and two bone fractures. I lost a grand slam two years ago last year. But now the happy ending has finally come.”
No German has won a grand slam singles title since Becker’s victory at the Australian Open three decades ago, and neither has triumphed at Roland-Garros in tennis’ open era – but both droughts have ended.
Zverev, 29, now ranks alongside Becker (six titles), Michael Stich (one), Gottfried von Cramm (two) and Henner Henkel (one) among his country’s elite men’s winners on the sport’s biggest stages.
He probably felt like he should have been there after serving for the 2020 US Open title against Dominic Thiem, who was in the crowd on Sunday, and then trailing Carlos Alcaraz by two sets to one in the Roland-Garros final two years ago. But Zverev suffered heartbreaking five-set losses on both occasions.
There was also a decisive defeat against Jannik Sinner at last year’s Australian Open.
Formerly the junior world No. 1, Zverev has spent his career competing with tennis greats, from Novak Djokovic to Nadal and Roger Federer, and now their successors Sinner and Alcaraz.
So it was little surprise when a reporter asked Zverev after his semi-final win if he doubted this day would come. But he flatly dismissed the question, saying he always believed a grand slam title was within reach.
The back-to-back defeats of Sinner and Djokovic last week, and the defending champion Alcaraz recovering from an ankle injury, made this situation even more realistic.
Zverev is the first male player outside the aforementioned tennis royalty to win a major title since Daniil Medvedev at the 2021 US Open.
For a while it looked like Zverev would cruise to victory.
He broke Cobolli at the fourth opportunity in the marathon opening game of the match, then repeated the dose in the fifth and seventh games to take a one-set lead in 39 minutes.
The Italian leaked errors and was eager to find the winner as he took a few steps into Zverev’s thunderous serve in the first set, but he audibly strained after almost every point he won in the early stages of the next set.
This manufactured emotion helped Cobolli slowly gain ground in the match.
Then, things suddenly came together for the giant German in the seventh game of the second set as Zverev broke through on serve for 30-0.
Cobolli did his bit to make it happen but Zverev was mostly his own worst enemy throughout the game, uncharacteristically slipping off the ground and committing two double faults.
The No. 2 seed hit an inside-out forehand on Cobolli’s second break point to find herself down 4-3 and the match was deadlocked with a set soon after. As the situation turned around, Zverev’s tension began to increase as he shouted towards his team.
The third set was a tense affair due to serving, but Zverev had it much easier overall as he hit 79 percent of his first serves and won 18 of those 19 points.
Cobolli could only last so long after having to regularly play pressure points, including fending off a pair of break points in the fourth game. Similar to Zverev a set earlier, he fell from 30-0 down as he tried to level the set at five.
Four consecutive errors from the world No. 14 racket gave Zverev a two sets to one lead, but the roller coaster wasn’t over yet.
Perhaps distracted by the approach of the finish line, Zverev missed four of the first five serves and made two more double faults before immediately giving up serve in the fourth set.
Cobolli helped him claw back that break in the sixth game, but the Italian star’s aggressive swinging paid off once again. Before volleying into the goal, the German player passed the approaching Zverev with a forehand shot, reducing the score to 15-40.
Even then, the hard-hitting Cobolli had to continue working overtime to hold serve, not helped by his first serve percentage temporarily falling below 40 percent.
As he began to cramp, Zverev began to swing more freely. He broke down two forehand winners with this approach, then broke back again with a magnificent backhand past Cobolli’s defense to earn a five-on-one draw.
The referee gave Zverev a time violation after drinking pickle juice and a tablet before the next service game, but Zverev managed to break the tie.
Cobolli recovered from 1-3 to win a certain point on serve, but misinterpreted the high volley and somehow cleared the ball out.
It hardly mattered because he continued his bold approach on the next point, firing a bold forehand into the corner to send the contest into a deciding set and spark his own enthusiastic celebration.
Cobolli chose to leave the court between sets but got off to the worst possible start by serving out to put Zverev in the driver’s seat. The German made back-to-back double faults, leaving the door ajar for Cobolli and he eventually had to fend off break point but kept the score at 2-0.
Cobolli struggled to hold serve for much of the final, and despite winning more break points on Zverev’s serve in the next game, a second break effectively sealed his fate.
The Italian’s consolation in the defeat is that he will be in the top 10 on Monday.
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