Alexander Zverev couldn’t control his emotions after he triumphed over Flavio Cobolli in a five-set thriller at the French Open final. He clinched the dramatic tie 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 to finally end his wait for a Grand Slam title. Though winning any of the four majors would have been a remarkable achievement, the French Open title in particular means a lot more than the others for Zverev. He reflected on his tough journey in the tournament after the final.

“I would like to thank the crowd. This court is so special to me in so many ways,” he said during his winning speech. “I have had the best moment of my life on this court, and I have had the worst moment of my life on this court. I was playing in that corner over there four years ago with 7 broken ligaments and 2 fractured bones. I lost a Grand Slam final here two years ago.

“But now, finally it’s a happy end so thank you very much to the crowd. I really felt like the crowd was pushing me throughout the entire 2 weeks and without you guys, I definitely wouldn’t have won the tournament.”

The injuries that Zverev was referring to were sustained by him during the 2022 French Open. The German picked up the injury during the semifinal clash against Rafael Nadal. He eventually had to retire from the match at 6-7, 6-6.

If this wasn’t all, then the 29-year-old had suffered another heartbreak at the Parisian clay-courts during the 2024 edition. He had lost to Carlos Alcaraz in a final that was also decided in five sets. Though the German has been among the biggest contenders at the Grand Slam for a number of years, he just wasn’t able to get over the finish line until today.

After breezing past his opponents throughout the tournament, Zverev’s first real test came in the final itself. Just like him, Cobolli had also dropped only a single set on his way to the penultimate match and made the German work extremely hard in order to win the final.

Zverev appeared to be in control of the match after taking the first set comprehensively. However, Cobolli hit back in the second set and levelled up the match. The third set was also pretty evenly-matched with both the players refusing to give in. But Zverev got a crucial break during the later stages to take a vital lead in the final.

Cobolli secured an important break early in the fourth set and remained in control for the most part. Though Zverev did break back later on, the set went into a tiebreaker where Cobolli kept his composure and clinched it 7-5 despite having trailed 1-3 at one stage. This meant that the French Open final went into a deciding fifth set for the third year running.

Though the momentum appeared to be with Cobolli at first, Zverev showed his resilience when it mattered the most. He raced to a 4-0 lead and appeared to be the clear favorite to win the final. Cobolli wasn’t able to forge a comeback this time around as Zverev finished off the match by breaking his serve for the ninth time in the match.

The grueling final eventually came to an end after four hours and 16 minutes. While Zverev celebrated his first-ever Grand Slam triumph, Cobolli sat alone on the other side of the court and looked to be devastated by the defeat. The Italian had truly given it his all, but it just wasn’t enough to get the better of the World No. 3.

However, instead of being bitter about the result, Cobolli was happy that his good friend was able to capture the title. He showed true sportsman spirit and hailed Zverev for his efforts in the tournament.

Flavio Cobolli shows his class by delivering special message for Alexander Zverev

“It’s not easy for me to talk right now, but I wanna start with you, Alex. If someone asked me who deserved this title more, I would always say you,” he said during his post-match speech. “It’s been an honor for our relationship to share the court with you today. I’m happy for you.”

Despite of the result in the final, the campaign was still a big success for Cobolli. He has now become just the seventh Italian man to break into the top 10 on the ATP rankings.

The 24-year-old had a solid clay swing, which also included an appearance in the final of the Munich Open. He finished the season with a win-loss record of 16-6 and will be optimistic about his chances as he heads into the grass-court season.

On the other hand, Zverev also had a sensational campaign on clay this season. After semifinal exits in Monte Carlo, Munich and a defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Madrid Open final, the German was finally able to capture his first singles title of the year at the French Open.

It remains to be seen if he will now be able to replicate this success on grass and grab more titles in the coming season.