Alexander Zverev defeated Flavio Cobolli on Sunday to win the 2026 French Open men's singles title [1].
The victory marks Zverev's first Grand Slam trophy and establishes him as the first German man to win a major title in 30 years [1, 4].
Playing at Roland Garros in Paris, the 29-year-old Zverev overcame the Italian Cobolli in a five-set battle [2, 3]. The final score ended 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 [2].
Zverev has spent years contending with near-misses and injuries while attempting to secure a major championship. Following the victory, he reflected on the difficulty of reaching this milestone. "Maybe I would have never won a Slam," Zverev said [5].
The match was a grueling contest of endurance and precision. Zverev dominated the first and fifth sets, but struggled to maintain a lead during the fourth set, which Cobolli took in a tiebreak [2].
This triumph ends a long period of absence for German men on the Grand Slam podium. The last time a German man captured a major title was three decades ago, when Boris Becker won a Slam [1, 4].
“"Maybe I would have never won a Slam."”
Zverev's victory breaks a historic drought in German tennis and validates his standing among the world's elite players after years of finishing as a runner-up. By securing a title on clay, he proves his versatility across surfaces and shifts the narrative of his career from one of potential to one of realized achievement.
