Alexander Zverev ends long wait for grand slam title with French Open triumph

Alexander Zverev ended his long wait for a first grand slam title with a five-set victory over Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final.

It is nearly six years since the German blew a golden chance to win the US Open against Dominic Thiem, while he also lost in Paris to Carlos Alcaraz two years ago and to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open last year.

Alcaraz did not even make the startline here and Sinner’s early exit made this the opportunity Zverev had been waiting for.

Tenth seed Cobolli was an unexpected if not wholly unlikely opponent, and the Italian recovered well from a nervous start in his first slam final to push Zverev all the way before the second seed claimed a 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-1 victory.

An emotional and exhausted Zverev collapsed onto the clay when a final overhead from Cobolli landed well long before the good friends shared a long hug.

It was not quite the dramatic denouement of 12 months ago, when Alcaraz and Sinner contested one of the best matches of all time, but it was a fitting ending to what has been a refreshingly unpredictable tournament.

The winner will certainly not be universally welcomed, though. While Zverev’s tennis CV merits a major title, he is a polarising figure after being accused of domestic violence by two ex-girlfriends.

He has strenuously denied all the accusations but Brenda Patea, who is also the mother of his daughter, took her case to court before Zverev reached a financial settlement.

Zverev is the first German man to win a slam singles title since Boris Becker at the Australian Open 30 years ago, while it is so long since a German won this title that the victor, Henner Henkel, later died at the Battle of Stalingrad.

Both men had lost only two sets in reaching the final