For the first time in his career, Alexander Zverev is a Grand Slam champion. On Sunday, June 7, the third-ranked German finally shed his "best player without a major" tag, beating Italy's Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in a four-hour-plus French Open final at Roland Garros.

When Cobolli missed an overhead on the second championship point, Zverev dropped to his back on the red clay and covered his face with his hands. He stayed there for a long moment, sobbing, before getting up — shirt and arms streaked with the iconic terre battue — and lifting both arms toward the Paris sky.

Fourth time's the charm

It was Zverev's fourth Grand Slam final, after losses at the 2020 US Open, the 2024 French Open and the 2025 Australian Open. With Sunday's win, he joined a small club of players who captured their first major in their fourth try: Andre Agassi, 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević, and 2020 US Open winner Dominic Thiem.

The match itself was a grinder rather than a showcase. Zverev raced through the first set in just 32 minutes, only for Cobolli — an unseeded 23-year-old reaching his first major final — to drag the match into deciders by refusing to fold. The Italian saved a championship point in the fourth-set tiebreak before Zverev steadied himself and ran away with the fifth.

An unusual opening

This French Open was always going to be different. Top-ranked Jannik Sinner faded in a first-week heat wave, and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz had withdrawn earlier in the spring with an injury. For the first time since 2023, the trophy was going to someone other than tennis's two dominant stars — and Zverev, on home soil for the European clay swing, was the overwhelming favorite once the draw cleared.

He still had to play it out. Cobolli, who turns 24 next month, had ridden a clay-court hot streak through Munich and Madrid into Paris, and pushed Zverev far further than the seeding suggested. Their final ended up being the longest men's decider at Roland Garros in three years.

A first for Germany in three decades

With the win, Zverev became the first German man to lift a Grand Slam singles trophy since Boris Becker's 1996 Australian Open title — a 30-year drought for a country with deep tennis tradition. He also climbs to second in the live rankings, closing the gap to Sinner at the top.

In his on-court interview, Zverev kept thanking his family, his team and his late coach Patricio Apey. "I've been trying for a very long time," he said, voice cracking. "To finally do it here, on the most beautiful court in the world — there are no words."

What comes next

Wimbledon begins in three weeks, and Zverev now arrives in London not as the chronic almost-winner but as a reigning major champion. His serve and groundstroke power have always traveled to grass; his head, by his own admission, has been the weak link. Sunday's long, ugly, gritty win on a surface where he had repeatedly stumbled may turn out to be the most important thing he ever did for his confidence.

For now, the picture that will stick is the one from the trophy ceremony: a 29-year-old who had carried four years of "what if" walking into the Roland Garros sunset with the Coupe des Mousquetaires in his arms.