Alexander Zverev had previously made it to three Grand Slam finals, losing all three times. He led by two sets at the 2020 US Open before losing in five sets to Dominic Thiem. Zverev lost out to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open final and Jannik Sinner in the 2025 Australian Open final. He had historically quite often done enough to make the finals, but never well enough to win them.

That curse broke on Sunday at the Roland Garros. Zverev won his first Grand Slam title at the fourth attempt, defeating Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), and 6-1 in a dramatic five-set final at Philippe-Chatrier. With this victory, he became the first German to win a Grand Slam since Boris Becker at the Australian Open in 1996. The final was neither clean nor comfortable, as Zverev admitted in his press conference.

“I was cramping,” he said when asked about his wobble late in the fourth set at the press conference. “I was struggling physically a little bit; even though I don’t think the cramps were physical, I think they were more mental, I was very tightened up, very emotional, and a bit unstable also in the fourth set.”

The admission comes from a player who had appeared almost imperturbable for the previous two weeks. He did not pretend that it had been simple. He described exactly what happened and why. “I actually think that the cramps helped me in a way. I let go and kind of hit my shots a bit more and just let go. Then of course the fifth set went my way.”

The fifth set ended with a 6-1 score. Flavio Cobolli, who was having an outstanding run in the tournament, simply had no tricks left anymore. Zverev was a different player after the cramps forced him to stop thinking and start swinging. Cobolli did pretty well as the underdog coming into the final. 2026 marked 50 years since an Italian had won the Men’s French Open. The 1976 winner, Adriano Panatta, was present at the inauguration ceremony. The onus was on Cobolli to perform well, as the Italian top seed Jannik Sinner was already eliminated in a match marred by controversies.

A journalist then inquired about his emotional state a year prior, citing a press conference at Wimbledon 2025 in which Zverev discussed feeling empty. “Before that, last year was not a good year for me,” he said quietly. “I didn’t play well. I was struggling a lot with physical issues, struggling with my tennis.” He paused. “And I mean, for sure this trophy helps the belief a lot. I think last year was one of the most difficult moments in my tennis career, and this year it’s one of the best.”

In the post-match conference, when the press asked if the mental cramps in the fourth set were related to those dark memories that he had repressed, his response was clear and direct. “No, no, no. I was just very tight today.” He went beyond the denial. “I feel like I 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, to stay calm in my mind, and I feel like I was playing really, really good tennis. But today, I feel like I didn’t manage so well. The match was a lot more up and down. The level was not as stable as in my previous matches, and I was a lot more nervous, which at some stage is also human.”

He smiled as he said that final word. Then: “That’s why I say the cramps helped me because my mind let go. I started swinging more freely, hitting the ball more aggressively, and I couldn’t focus on being tight anymore. I had to let go, and that’s why I played the fifth set the way I did.”

Thirteen Years, Four Finals, and Finally One Trophy for Alexander Zverev

The path to this title took more than a decade of professional tennis. Zverev won his first Masters title in Rome in 2017 and reached his first Grand Slam final in 2020. He is 29 years old and has spent around six years being referred to as the best player never to win a Grand Slam.

After 13 years of professional tennis, Zverev finally won a Grand Slam title. He had been chasing for so long, with experience and form ultimately proving decisive. The Cobolli finale is what defines the story of the uncrowned who finally became the king. Not because it was the best tennis he had ever played, but because of what it asked of him in the fourth set: to stay present when his body was failing and his mind was racing, to stop trying to control the situation and simply play through it.

“I’m happy to be sitting next to this beautiful trophy for the first time,” he said. Alexander Zverev’s wait is finally over after three finals and thirteen years.