Zverev ended his long wait for a major title, winning the 2026 French Open and claiming his first Grand Slam singles crown. World No. 3 Zverev defeated Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 6–1, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–1 in a gruelling five-set final on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The reigning Olympic gold medalist, a three-time Slam runner-up, dominated the first set and reasserted control after Cobolli’s second-set rebounce. Cobolli pushed the match to a tiebreak in the fourth, but Zverev broke early in the fifth and raced to victory in 3 hours 21 minutes.
Zverev went into the French Open final under intense pressure to finally secure his first Grand Slam title, facing Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in what looked like a rare window of opportunity for the German.
With world number one Jannik Sinner and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz both out of the tournament, and Novak Djokovic also eliminated early, the third-ranked Zverev walked onto Court Philippe-Chatrier without any of the sport’s current “Big Three” on the other side of the net.
The 29-year-old was contesting his fourth major final and his second at Roland Garros, still searching for a breakthrough after three painful defeats at this stage. He had let a two-set lead slip against Dominic Thiem in the 2020 US Open final, lost from two sets to one up against Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open title match, and been beaten in straight sets by Sinner in the 2025 Australian Open final. His run in Paris this fortnight had reinforced his status as one of the game’s most consistent clay-court performers, but also revived questions over whether he could close out the biggest matches of his career.
Cobolli, by contrast, was experiencing his first Grand Slam final after a breakout fortnight that had captivated Italian fans. The 24-year-old had advanced to the championship match when compatriot Matteo Arnaldi withdrew from their scheduled semi-final with illness, sending Cobolli into the biggest match of his life without striking a ball. He came from the same Roman club as Adriano Panatta, the last Italian man to win the singles title at Roland Garros back in 1976, and tournament organisers had invited Panatta to present the Coupe des Mousquetaires to this year’s champion on the 50th anniversary of his triumph.
Both Zverev and Cobolli had dropped only two sets on their way to Sunday’s final, underlining how steadily they had navigated an unpredictable draw.
Zverev led their head-to-head 3–1 and had beaten the Italian in straight sets in the third round at Roland Garros a year earlier, yet the pair had split two meetings on clay that season, with Cobolli winning in Munich and Zverev responding in Madrid. Those results, combined with Cobolli’s rapid rise into the top echelon of the game that season, suggested a final that could be far more finely balanced than the rankings alone might indicate.
On Saturday, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva lifted the women’s singles trophy, beating qualifier Maja Chwalinska to claim the title and become the youngest French Open champion in more than three decades. Her victory had already ensured that this year’s tournament delivered at least one new name on the list of major champions, and Zverev and Cobolli then stepped into the spotlight to decide whether the men’s trophy would also go to a first-time winner.
