Alexander Zverev finally claimed an elusive Grand Slam title in his fourth final as he defeated 14th-ranked Flavio Cobolli in a dramatic French Open climax.
With no Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz across the net, the second seed battled past Italian first-timer Cobolli 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1.
Zverev is the first German man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Boris Becker at the Australian Open 30 years ago, while it is so long since a German won this title that the victor, Henner Henkel, later died at the Battle of Stalingrad.
He had been the overwhelming favourite ever since the top-ranked Sinner struggled in the first week’s heat wave, while 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic was also dumped out.
The big-serving German was playing his second final at Roland-Garros, having lost in five sets to Alcaraz two years ago, but in the craziest Grand Slam tournament in years, the 29-year-old held his nerve to join the roll of honour and lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires [The Musketeers’ Cup] for the first time.
“This court is so special to me in so many ways,” Zverev said during the trophy ceremony.
“I have had the best moments of my life on this court and the worst moment of my life on these courts. I was laying in the corner four years ago over there with seven broken ligaments and two fractured bones.
“I lost a Grand Slam final here two years ago, but now, finally, it is a happy end.”
Big step up for Italian
Flavio Cobolli pushed Zverev all the way in a dramatic Grand Slam final
Cobolli has been rising over the past couple of years and reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon last year but this was a big step up for the 24-year-old.
Initially it appeared it would be too big, with Zverev sweeping through the first set, breaking the Cobolli serve three times.
With the sun shining down on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the Italian was struggling to find the balance between consistency and aggression, but he geed himself up at the start of the second set and settled into the contest.
The presence of Thiem, who trailed Zverev by two-sets-to-love in New York in 2020, in the crowd should have been enough to indicate to Cobolli that he could find a way back.
He finally applied some pressure to the Zverev serve at 3-3 and earned his reward, with the 29-year-old firing a forehand wide on break point.
Zverev’s demons did not seem to be far from the surface as he ranted at his support box, earning a round of booing from the crowd.
Cobolli is an easy player to like with his puppyish energy, passion and varied game, and the crowd were fully behind him as he pulled level.
The Italian’s weakness comes in shot selection, and two missed forehands at 4-5 in the third set donated what was a hugely significant advantage to his opponent.
Still there was the feeling that Zverev could beat himself, and the fourth set was a case in point.
Twice he trailed by a break and twice he fought back, including playing a fine game to break Cobolli when he served for the set at 5-4.
Long-awaited crown
Zverev and Cobolli embrace after their five-set epic
Zverev, who is a Type 1 diabetic, looked to be struggling physically, stretching out his legs, and he consulted the trainer after receiving a package from his team.
At 3-1 up in the tie-break, victory was tantalisingly close, but back came Cobolli, and the Italian recovered brilliantly from missing an overhead on his first set point, powering a forehand down the line to keep his chances alive.
That effort seemed to take it out of the Italian, though, as Zverev edged in front and used all his experience to finally earn his long-awaited crown.
Cobolli was competing in his first major final and was aiming to become the fourth Italian man to win a Slam, after Adriano Panatta, Nicola Pietrangeli and Sinner.
The 24-year-old Italian leaves Paris up four spots to No 10 in the rankings – and is set to rise to a career-high on Monday.
“I want to start with you Alex. If someone asked me who deserves this title, I always said you,” Cobolli said to Zverev during the trophy ceremony.
“It has been an honour to share the court with you today. I am happy for you but I am also sad as I was close and I felt it. Now that you have achieved your dream, let me win next time.”
Henman: Zverev can now release the stress, tension, baggage of many years
Former British No 1 Tim Henman, speaking on TNT Sports:
“He [Zverev] was carrying that baggage from early in the first week when so many of the big names were losing, and there were no other Grand Slam champions in the draw.
“This was his opportunity and this was his to lose. He got all the way through to the final. We talked about stats, the match up, game styles, and that fifth set had absolutely nothing to do with that, it was about hunger and desire and the will to win.
“For him to get over the finish line to get to be a Grand Slam champion, you could see and hear the relief in his voice. A phenomenal achievement.
“He had so much stress for so many years, and let’s be honest about the last hour-and-a-half of that match, he looked absolutely exhausted.
“He had a salt sweat stain around his shirt, his feet stopped working, he stopped being aggressive.
“That was purely the tension of the situation. When he lost that fourth set tiebreak, you were thinking who would muster something up, and now he can enjoy the fruits of his labour not just of today, but for his whole life.”
Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
