No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev overcame the challenge of No. 10 Flavio Cobolli on Sunday to claim his first grand slam title at the 2026 French Open. Zverev got it done in five sets against the rising Italian contender (6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7,6-1) on Philippe Chatrier on Sunday at Roland-Garros. 

It’s the first time a German has won a grand slam title since Boris Becker claimed the Australian Open in 1996.

Zverev battled back from two breaks of serve in the fourth set to take down Cobolli in the tiebreak thanks to some incredibly timely serving. 

Zverev had previously reached the finals of a grand slam three times, but came up short in each appearance, including a 2024 loss to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets. For a long time, Zverev was considered the best player on tour to not claim a grand slam title.

Sunday erased any remaining doubts as his serve remained on point despite a few hiccups down the stretch. He managed to break Cobolli at 4-5 in the fourth set to eventually force a decisive tiebreak. Zverev went up early in the breaker, but Cobolli rallied quickly force a fifth set.

Zverev then secured two breaks of Cobolli’s serve and consolidated both to jump out to a quick 4-0 lead in the final set. He closed it out in style by breaking Cobolli one last time for the 6-1 set win with a slick return after a drop shot from Cobolli that he managed to get to before Cobolli sailed his return out of play.