Alexander Zverev Ends Grand Slam Drought With First Major Title

PARIS -- For Alexander Zverev , the relief was palpable.

As the German clinched his first Grand Slam title, in his fourth final, he fell on to his back, tears flowing. The pain of getting so close at the US Open in 2020, and the near misses at Roland Garros in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2025 disappeared.

"I want to say thank you to everyone," he said on the court after his five-set victory over Flavio Cobolli of Italy in the final Sunday. "We have been through so much. We have been through injury, heartbreaks, losses, we have been losers at times in the most important moments. At the end of the day, we are Grand Slam champions now, and that is what counts."

The first German man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Boris Becker in Melbourne in 1996, Zverev knew this was his best chance to win a major. The wrist injury that kept Carlos Alcaraz out of the event, the shocking defeat for Sinner in Round 2 and Novak Djokovic 's loss in Round 3 had cleared his path. It wasn't easy -- it was never going to be for the 29-year-old -- but though he faltered a couple of times close to the finish line, he had overcome his shortcomings on the court.

Off the court, Zverev has been a divisive figure in recent years, accused by two former partners of domestic abuse . The first case was eventually dropped, but the second went to court before being settled. Zverev paid 200,000 euros to shorten the court proceedings, and under German law, the discontinuation is not a conviction. Zverev had always pleaded his innocence.

Crowd reaction to Zverev around the world has been mixed, but though Cobolli had the bulk of the support in Paris on Sunday, there were no jeers for Zverev at the end.

His path to glory has been far from easy. When Zverev first broke through into the senior tour as a 16-year-old, he was immediately predicted to be a future Grand Slam champion, a man who could one day be world No. 1. With a huge serve and big groundstrokes, he set about building a team around him that could fulfill his obvious talent, including Jez Green, the physio who was a key part of Andy Murray's team early on.

But champions have to be superhuman; most find it hard to cope with the pressure. Zverev excelled at every level, winning Masters 1000s and titles everywhere around the world, but found his path to slam glory blocked by Roger Federer , Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, before Sinner and Alcaraz took over.

His tendency to be passive and go into his shell at key moments in matches held him back. In his first slam final in 2020, he served for the US Open title against Dominic Thiem and was two points from clinching it, only to capitulate and lose in five sets. He was well-beaten by Alcaraz at Roland Garros in 2024 and by Sinner at the Australian Open the following year.

He has had physiological problems to overcome due to Type 1 diabetes, and he has also worked incredibly hard to rid himself of any tennis weaknesses. His serve, which had wildly let him down against Thiem, with numerous double-faults, has become a huge weapon. His forehand, once a problem, is now vastly improved.

The old problems did surface under pressure against Cobolli, a man he had beaten in three of their four previous battles, and when Cobolli took the fourth set on the tiebreak, the cameras panned to Thiem, sitting in the stands. At the time it seemed a cruel irony, but in the fifth set, Zverev made 80 percent of his first serves and never allowed Cobolli the opportunity to produce the upset.

It wasn't a great performance. Zverev resorted to type too often, pushing the ball instead of attacking, hoping for a mistake from his opponent rather than pressing the issue. But he got the job done.

The emotions poured out of Zverev at the end, and from here on, with the burden of expectation off, he will be a big threat at the other majors. Whatever occurs, he's now a Grand Slam winner -- something he may have doubted would ever happen.

"No matter what happens, I will always be a Grand Slam champion," he said Sunday. "And nobody can take that away from me."

_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/48992839/french-open-champion-alexander-sasha-zverev-flavio-cobolli-men-final)._