Alexander Zverev won the first Grand Slam title of his career on Sunday, outlasting Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 in the men’s singles final at Roland-Garros.
The German world No. 3, who had lost his three previous major finals, dropped to the clay in tears as Cobolli’s last shot sailed long, ending a long pursuit of the sport’s biggest prize. At 29, Zverev becomes one of the oldest men in tennis history to capture a first major.
The win closes a painful chapter for Zverev, who fell to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open, surrendered a two-set-to-one lead to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open final, and was beaten by Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open. It was also his first title of any kind in more than a year.
Cobolli, the 10th seed, was playing in his first Grand Slam final and carried Italian hopes into the championship match after Sinner’s surprise early exit thinned the draw. The 23-year-old took the second set and pushed the German to a fourth-set tiebreak, but Zverev reasserted control in the decider, racing through the fifth set to seal the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
The two had met four times before, with Zverev holding a 3-1 edge. Their fifth meeting carried the highest stakes of any, and Zverev’s experience in deep tournament runs ultimately told over five sets. Earlier in the tournament, 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva won the women’s singles title, her first Grand Slam, defeating Maja Chwalinska in the final.
