Years of pressure had to be weighing on Alexander Zverev before and during his 2026 French Open final against Flavio Cobolli. The issue was that one player appeared far more nervous at the beginning of the match, and that player wasn't Zverev. He was playing with brutal precision and confidence.
Meanwhile, Cobolli struggled to do anything in the first set, one that appeared likely to set the tone for the rest of the match. Zverev was moving the Italian from side to side, far out-hitting Cobolli, and Cobolli couldn't even land his first serve consistently. The German was dominating in the first set.
Zverev had reached three previous major finals, including the French Open in 2024. The previous two times, he had been defeated by his betters, Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open and Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros two years ago.
Alexander Zverev finally wins his first major by defeating Flavio Cobolli at the 2026 French Open
Therefore, one might have expected Zverev to be far more anxious about the final, and his early play might have mirrored that. After all, he was the person most would have picked as the best men's player ever to never have won a Grand Slam.
After an easy set one win 6-1, though, things got much tougher. Instead of Zverev cruising to his first major victory, Cobolli evened the match with a late break in the second set to take it 6-4. The third set was tight, too, but Zverev got the break he would need and took that set 6-4. He was, of course, then just a set away from accomplishing a career dream.
At the start of the fourth set, with Zverev appearing to be regaining momentum, Cobolli got a break and then held. A somewhat shocking back-and-forth match had seemingly swung back towards the Italian, but he would need to keep holding to get to a fifth and final set.
He couldn't, as Zverev got the break back to get to 3-all, but then Cobolli got the break right back and then held. He suddenly held a 5-3 lead in the fourth set, but everything in the match was tenuous. After Zverev held, he then got his second break of Cobolli of the set, and he was back to 5-all, and the set eventually found its way to a tie-break.
The tie-break began as a mini-opera. Cobolli took the first point on Zverev's serve, but then the German took the next two on the Italian's, including a shot that Cobolli managed to get to with a chance at a winner, only to have the ball tick off the top of the net and skip long. The Italian then got another mini-break back, and Cobolli won his service point to get to 3-all.
Serving at 4-5, Cobolli was able to drop a shot just over the net to get to a point away from forcing a fifth set, but on set point, he missed an easy overhead putaway that landed wide. It wouldn't cost him, though. With Zverev serving at 5-6, Cobolli was able to get to a ball the German hit at an angle and lace the return down the line. The match headed to a fifth set.
As dramatic as sets two through four had been, the fifth set followed the form of the first that Zverev had so controlled. He got a break in the first game of the final set, held, and then got another break in the third game. The outcome seemed sealed, and Zverev was going to get his elusive first Grand Slam victory after taking the fifth set 6-1.
Flavio Cobolli is a wonderful player, but no one would argue that he is better than Alexander Zverev on an average day, and after the German defeated the Italian at the French Open, no one can ever say that Zverev is the best player never to win a major. He has a title now.
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