Two weeks of nerves and tension across one of the most chaotic men’s grand slam tournaments in recent memory came to an appropriate conclusion as an excruciatingly tense five-set psychodrama ended with Alexander Zverev, the second seed, lifting his first grand slam title by holding off his own demons to close out a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 win over Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final.
For so long Zverev had won at every other level: he had triumphed at Masters 1000 events and twice at the ATP Finals, and he earned an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020. But he had lost in all three of his major finals. A grand slam, the biggest prize of all, had always evaded him.
