A single phrase always followed Alexander Zverev’s name for years: The best player without a Grand Slam. The word ‘choker’ had become a permanent fixture around him with three Grand Slam final defeats, including one in the 2020 US Open final against Dominic Thiem from two sets up. On Sunday, he answered all of it with the Musketeers trophy aloft. 

“We’ve been losers at times in the most important moments. At the end of the day, we’re Grand Slam champions now, and that’s what counts,” he said in his speech after defeating Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 in the 2026 French Open final.

He honestly and unfalteringly accepted everything spoken and written about him, not with bitterness, but with the fullness of the truth. Zverev didn’t try to point out that the criticism was unfair. He swallowed it, sat on it in the wake of three losses over six years, and used Sunday afternoon on Court Philippe-Chatrier to make it irrelevant.  

He also took time to thank those who had remained with him through it, recognizing a team that he called the longest in tennis, including his coach cum father and elder brother, who have been with him for 29 years; his physical trainer, who joined him in 2014 when he was only 16; and a best friend who has been at his side for more than 10 years. The choker label is a thing of the past. The Coupe des Mousquetaires is not.

This is a developing story…