Germany’s Alexander Zverev has finally won his first tennis Grand Slam title after defeating Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in Paris to win the 2026 French Open championship on Sunday. 

The 29-year-old defeated Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in five sets to secure his long-awaited Grand Slam victory, ending the unwanted accolade of being one of the best tennis players in history without a major title. 

Zverev was one of the favourites going into Roland Garros following the withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz due to injury and the chance soared after world number one Jannik Sinner was knocked out by Juan Cerundolo in the second round. 

Speaking after the match, Zverev said that he was excited to secure his first major victory, while also reflecting on his previous setbacks. 

He stated, “This court is so special to me in so many ways. I’ve had the best moments of my life on these courts. I’ve had the worst moment of my life on these courts. I was playing on that corner over there four years ago with seven broken ligaments and two fractured bones. 

“I lost a grand slam final here two years ago. But now finally it’s a happy end. Thank you very much to the crowd. I really felt like the crowd was pushing me the entire two weeks. Without you guys I definitely wouldn’t have won the tournament. Thank you very much.”

Meanwhile, Cobolli, who is set to break into the top 10 of the ATP rankings after reaching his maiden Grand Slam final, admitted that he had not expected to make such a deep run at the tournament.

“I started playing tennis when I was young. I never expected this kind of result. Now that I’m here I just wanna make something special possible because for me it’s not done. It’s only the start. I’m still young so. I just wanna enjoy every moment I spend on court,” the 24-year-old stated.