Alexander Zverev finally secured his maiden Grand Slam title with a dramatic five-set victory over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final on Sunday.
The second seed became the first German man to win a major tournament since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 win after four hours and 16 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.
It was Zverev’s fourth Grand Slam final and second at Roland Garros after some heartbreaking near misses in his career.
Cobolli, the 10th seed, was bidding to become the first Italian man to win the French Open in 50 years.
The 24-year-old had never even played a Slam semifinal before, let alone a final, after his last-four opponent Matteo Arnaldi withdrew from the tournament through illness.
Both players appeared to struggle with nerves at various points in the match, especially Cobolli during an error-strewn first set.
But Zverev’s greater experience showed in a deciding set that was far tenser than the scoreline suggested, as he managed to get over the line.
The 29-year-old was handed a golden opportunity to break his Grand Slam duck by the injury-enforced absence of reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz and surprise early exits for Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
The world number three was not always in control, making 54 unforced errors, but did enough to finally shed the tag of being one of the best players to have never won a major.
Zverev had previously also lost in six Slam quarterfinals and seven semifinals, alongside his three final defeats.
The most agonising miss of all was his first major final when he blew a two-set lead and failed to serve for the championship against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.
The now-retired Thiem was watching on from the stands at Roland Garros as Zverev belatedly put the memories of that match to bed six years later.
Cobolli’s nervy start
Cobolli made a nervy start and appeared to be struggling to deal with the occasion as the first set quickly got away from him in 39 minutes, making 16 unforced errors.
He managed to settle into the match with three successive holds of serve in the second set and then made his move out of nowhere to break in the seventh game.
Zverev had been completely untroubled on serve previously, but produced a scrappy game featuring two double-faults and a wild forehand on break point before turning to gesticulate angrily towards his coaching staff.
Cobolli started to grow in confidence and served out the set to breathe life into the final.
A higher-quality third set disappeared from Cobolli’s grasp in the 10th game, though, as from 30-0 up, he lost four points in a row, including a poor forehand that flew well wide on set point.
The world number 14, who will climb into the top 10 for the first time next week, hit straight back with a break in the opening game of the fourth set.
He could not pull away in the set, though, as both players ended up being broken twice, including Cobolli when he served for it at 5-4.
But the Italian rallied himself to push it into a tie-break, which he took to force a decider with a blistering forehand winner on his second set point.
Following a delay before the start of the final act after Cobolli left the court, Zverev struck first blood with a break in the first game.
Cobolli’s hopes were finally all but extinguished when he missed a break-back point and then dropped serve again to slip 3-0 down.
Zverev staved off three more break points in the fourth game and eased to victory from there, falling to the clay in celebration after Cobolli shanked an overhead on his second match point.
“I want to congratulate Flavio. What an unbelievable two weeks, reaching your first Grand Slam final, and playing your first final like this,” Zverev said in his on-court interview.
“From the bottom of my heart, I hope you lift this trophy very soon. You’re one of the best people on tour.
“I really felt the crowd was pushing me throughout these two weeks and without you guys I wouldn’t have won this tournament.”
He left the 2022 tournament in a wheelchair after seriously injuring his ankle in the semifinals against Rafa Nadal.
“This court is so special to me in so many ways,” he added.
“Some of the best moments of my life have happened on this court, and some of the worst too. I sat here with seven broken bones four years ago, and I lost a final here.”
Cobolli was left to rue a missed chance to return the Roland Garros men’s title to Italy for the first time in 50 years after Adriano Panatta defeated American Harold Solomon in the 1976 title clash.
“It’s not easy for me to talk right now, but I want to start with you, Ale,” Cobolli said.
“If someone asked me who deserved this title more, I would always say you. It’s been an honour, through our relationship, to share the court today.
“I’m happy for you, but I’m also sad, because I was close, and I feel it now. You achieved your dream.
“Let me win the next time.”
Source: Khaleej Times