Alexander Zverev wins first grand slam after holding off Cobolli in French Open

By Tumaini Carayol at Roland Garros • June 8, 2026 • Sport

The German No 2 seed overcame some late nerves to beat Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 and so won his first major in his fourth final

Two weeks of excruciating nerves and tension across one of the most chaotic men’s grand slam tournaments in recent memory met an appropriate conclusion as a nerve-racking 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 the 10th seed Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final. For so long, Zverev had won at every other level: at Masters 1000 events, twice at the ATP Finals and he earned an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020, but he had lost in all three of his previous major finals. A grand slam, the biggest title of all, had always evaded him. From the moment Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic were bounced from the tournament in consecutive days, and with Carlos Alcaraz absent due to injury, Zverev was clearly the best player remaining in the draw and Cobolli, the world No 14, turned out to be the only top-25 player in his path. It was reasonable to suggest that if he did not take this massive opportunity, he never would. He has finally cleared that bar. One year on from one of the greatest-ever finals, Alcaraz’s astounding comeback versus Sinner, this edition made for a painful watch as nerves struck both sides of the net, drawing out fearful, erratic tennis from all. A picture of complete tension and discomfort throughout the second half of the match, Zverev’s age-old troubles with his forehand and second serve reared up. However, thrown into his first grand slam final, Cobolli felt the moment even more intensely. Zverev drew on his first serve and his experience to drag himself through the fifth set. Zverev remains a popular figure at most tournaments, and the Philippe Chatrier crowd cheerfully received his victory, but this result is uncomfortable for many tennis 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. 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 Zverev 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 Jannik 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 due to a virus, Cobolli 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 he returned more confident behind his serve. By 3-3, the match had changed. As Cobolli finally started to pressure the Zverev serve, finding his range on his vicious forehand and landing more returns, Zverev’s familiar forehand and second-serve issues resurfaced. The German double-faulted twice in the game, then he sprayed a forehand wide on break point. Emboldened by his opponent’s nerves, Cobolli flitted through his service games to take the set. Zverev was still tentative on his forehand throughout the third set but he re-established his service rhythm, serving excellently and shutting Cobolli out of his service games. Cobolli did plenty well, particularly closing down the net and striking his forehand with increasing freedom, but he was working much harder in his service games. It came as no surprise that, under additional pressure at 4-5, Cobolli’s first serve disappeared and he struck three unforced errors in four points from 30-0 to lose the set. Just as it seemed as if Zverev might definitively begin to pull away, the approaching finish line only invited fear. For much of the fourth set, Zverev looked completely overwhelmed by his nerves. His forehand capitulated, his first serve percentage dropped and it looked as if he was in the early stages of cramps. He was there for the taking, but Cobolli felt the moment even more intensely. As he served for the fourth set at 5-4, Cobolli’s first-serve percentage had fallen to 39% for the set and he too was playing not to lose. It was Zverev who stepped up and attacked, lasering two backhand down-the-line winners to retrieve the break. Four points away from defeat, having been reduced to nervously rolling the ball in from far behind the baseline, the moment finally inspired the best of Cobolli. He ended the tie-break in a blaze of first serves, nuclear forehands and creative drop shots. He nearly lost his chance, completely shanking a straightforward smash from on top of the net on his first set point at 6-4. He responded with a searing running forehand winner to make it two sets all. However, that escape robbed Cobolli of his remaining mental energy. 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.

Source: The Guardian