With a stirring performance in a gripping and nerve-riddled French Open final, Alexander Zverev secured the grand slam title he so desperately craved to end an extraordinary Roland Garros beset with upsets on Sunday.
Featuring in his fourth major final, the German overcame a talented foe in Flavio Cobolli and his own propensity to nerves on the biggest stages when prevailing 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-1 in a decider of swinging momentum lasting 4hr 16min.
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A superb afternoon for tennis, and by far the best for a Roland Garros that started with a sweltering week one before a wintry turn to blustering gales and thunderstorms, extended towards dusk in a marathon encounter.
On becoming the first German since Henner Henkel in 1937 to win the French Open, Zverev fell to his back behind the baseline before embracing his rival at length, with his emotions overwhelming him as he reconciled the triumph.
After falling to Dominic Thiem, who was court-side, in a weird US Open final played with empty stands in 2020, to Carlos Alcaraz in a high-class decider in Paris two years ago and to Jannik Sinner in Melbourne last year, his time has arrived.
With a coaching team including his father Alexander Zverev Snr and brother Mischa Zverev looking on, the 29-year-old praised them for supporting him through a rollercoaster career that reached its peak on Sunday in Paris.
“I just want to say thank you to everybody because, to be honest, we’ve been through so much,” Zverev said.
“We’ve been through injuries. We’ve been through heartbreak. We’ve been through losses. We’ve been losers at times as well in the most important moments, but at the end of the day, we’re grand slam champions now.”
His first grand slam title came in his 41st appearance in a major. Only Goran Ivanisevic had to wait longer, with his Wimbledon triumph over Pat Rafter in 2001 coming in his 48th main draw appearance.
In banishing his reputation as the best current player without a grand slam, Zverev also ended a 30-year drought for German men in majors dating back to Boris Becker’s victory at the Australian Open in 1996.
It is a testament to Zverev’s resilience, for on this court against Rafael Nadal in a semifinal in 2022 he severely injured an ankle when testing the 14-time Roland Garros champion, and to his inner-strength, for he never stopped believing in himself.
Even in the decider, he started to cramp late in the fourth set, but felt that enabled him to start swinging more freely given he was mindful of the importance of not being trapped in longer rallies.
“This sport is so special to me in so many ways. I’ve had the best moment of my life on this court. I had the worst moment of my life on this court,” he said.
“I was laying in that corner over there four years ago 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 ending.”
Overcoming his nerves was another important factor, with Zverev saying later it was important for him to manage his emotions throughout the tournament once Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic were knocked out early.
“I was just very tight today,” he said.
“I honestly feel like I’ve managed the last two weeks extremely well, because with all the losses that happened early on with Jannik going out, with Novak going out, I managed to stay composed, I managed to stay calm in my mind, and I feel like I was playing really, really good tennis.
But then today I feel like I didn’t manage so well. I feel like the match was a lot more up and down. I think the level was not as stable as the previous matches for me, and I was a lot more nervous, which at some stage is also human, I think.”
But the triumph will not be universally celebrated, with Zverev’s reputation dogged in recent years by claims of domestic violence against two women. He has always denied the allegations, but one claim was tested and settled in a German court.
While there were German flags waved in the stands, Zverev was jeered and booed at times and the crowd was firmly behind Cobolli as he mounted comebacks in the second and fourth sets of the decider.
But during the presentation ceremony Zverev received a standing ovation from a capacity crowd after Cobolli ended his runner-ups speech by saying no-one was more deserving of a major title than the angular German.
“If someone asked me who deserved more this title, I always said you,” he told Zverev.
“I shared the court with you today and yeah, I’m happy for you, but I’m also sad because I was close and I feel it.”
Seeking to become the first Italian man since Adriano Panatta in 1976 to win in Paris, Cobolli showed tremendous fight after a slow start and will move into the top 10 for the first time after his career-best run to the final.
He ran for everything and even as his charge wilted in the final set found a way to entertain the fans by pausing for a mouthful of flowers from a court side box after sliding wide for ball.
But with Panatta, who presented the trophy, women’s champion Mirra Andreeva, Thiem, American musician Pharrell Williams and an array of French celebrities watching on, the colourful right-hander’s could not sustain the challenge.
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How Zverev broke through for his maiden major title
Now the eighth man in the Open era to win a major title after losing their first three finals, Zverev was lucky to break the Italian in the opening game, with a double-let cord enabling him to survive a game point on the Cobolli serve.
Given his history in finals, to see fortune fall his way in the infancy of the match must have felt like a good omen. Advantage, Zverev. But it took a lot more than luck for him to secure the title in what became a hard-fought final.
The second break was gifted courtesy of Cobolli, whose attempt at an angled forehand drop shot when facing two break points was poorly executed.
The German had vowed to be more aggressive. With a wing span like his, even if his forehand volley is shaky, he should prove a hard man to pass.
When under pressure in his service game leading 4-1, he made a bold approach to his rival’s backhand and it was enough to draw the error. It was not perfect, but it was enough.
Another Cobolli service game followed, so too another let cord for Zverev, who ripped a crosscourt forehand winner to secure the first set within just 34 minutes.
Cobolli comes to life
Cobolli showed signs of life in the second game of the next set when closing out a service game with a swinging ace to the deuce court, which brought a roar from what had been a subdued crowd due to the slow opening.
When he held his second service game in succession, he waved his red racquet to the crowd to urge them to get behind him.
He levelled at 3-all not long after, and if omens are your game, this was a moment. Holding a game point, for the first time a Zverev shot that clipped the net fell back on his own side, which must have been a relief to the No.10 seed.
For the first time he properly challenged the German’s serve in the seventh game of the set, ripping a backhand passing shot to move to 30-all before a deep return gave him a break point.
After an extended rally, Zverev denied him that chance. But the No.2 seed was fraying and after errors from both wings and also a double fault in an elongated game, dropped serve for the first time to give Cobolli the advantage in the second set.
As the set slipped away, with the 23-year-old switching his pace cleverly, Zverev became increasingly agitated and drew boos from the crowd when started gesturing to his support box. It was indisputable who had the crowd support.
The roar was even louder when, just over a tick after 90 minutes on court, Cobolli served-and-volleyed on set point and drew an error from his rival to square the decider.
Sascha steadies the ship
A four-time title winner preceding the final, Cobolli held on well in the fourth game of the set when saving break points.
The pick of the points was a perfectly executed serve-and-volley, brave for a player who favours the baseline, but also evident was the flaring of a concern for the German, who could not control two slow, spinning serves directed to his forehand.
But Zverev handled the seventh game of the third set far better than an hour earlier, rifling a backhand winner to hold to love. Cobolli responded assertively, with his willingness to venture forward a factor, so too his whip-cracking forehands as a tight set progressed.
But when serving to stay in the set at 4-5, the first-time finalist lost his rhythm from the baseline, with a string of errors from 30-love costing him dearly as he conceded the sole service break.
Zverev gets the wobbles
As soon as Zverev seemed in control, he lost concentration to start to the fourth set, with a particularly loose game on serve reinvigorating the Italian.
A sloppy service game from Cobolli at 3-2 which started with a double-fault and finished with a tired backhand allowed the German to square the set, only for him to promptly hand the advantage straight back to the Italian with a poor game himself.
As the final deepened, the signs of nerves from both players became more apparent. Cobolli shanked a smash when holding a game point to lead 5-3, but then Zverev missed a regulation rally ball. With glory on the line, the anxiety from both was rising.
The second seed responded to the challenge though, when thumping forehand and backhand winners on consecutive points to break back and level at 5-all after an exacting game where the physical reserves of both players were examined.
Zverev was able to hold his next service game, closing it out with an ace down the middled, but he called for a trainer after appearing to show signs of fatigue in his legs after extended rallies.
Like a good prize fighter, Cobolli took note of the situation, bounced about on his feet and held to love to force a tiebreaker.
The first point of the stanza was a ripper, with Zverev in the driver’s seat but not quite positive enough with a volley, which allowed Cobolli to run it down and rip a backhand passing shot for a winner.
A fluke of fortune – a Cobolli forehand pass clipped the tape and flew beyond the baseline – and some measured use of the court enabled the favourite to slip out to a 3-1 lead, only for nerves to hit as the Italian wrested back the lead.
The most delightful of forehand drop shots, one with a margin so small it must have skimmed the net, gave Cobolli two set points, only for him to frame a high forehand volley on top of the net.
But the inexplicable miss did not deter him. Instead he stepped up on the next point and ripped a forehand winner to force a decider.
Cobolli takes his leave
After a brief break from the court at the end of the fourth set, Cobolli promptly dropped his opening service game of the decider to cede the momentum. And that ended his charge, as much as the German struggled initially to seize the moment.
After securing the break, he double-faulted twice to start the next service game as the levels of tension rose on the court and in the stands of Court Philippe-Chatrier.
He was able to reset, saving a break point with a backhand passing shot, but it was scarcely convincing. But when he secured another break in the following game with a backhand pass, a maiden major was well within reach if he could defy his nerves.
It was a near run thing. In the following game Cobolli had his chances to retrieve the break but could not summon the final effort necessary to build some scoreboard pressure, with Zverev racing away with the title after a spirited challenge.
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