Alexander Zverev savours a ‘happy end’ at French Open after grand slam heartache

Alexander Zverev put his grand slam heartache behind him to finally lift a major trophy at the French Open.

The German was presented with a golden opportunity in the absence of injured two-time winner Carlos Alcaraz and with Jannik Sinner losing early, and he battled to a 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-1 victory over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.

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 Alcaraz two years ago and to Sinner at the Australian Open last year.

Another memory that came into Zverev’s mind as he held the Coupe des Mousquetaires was the severe ankle injury he suffered during a semi-final against Rafael Nadal four years ago.

“This court is so special to me in so many ways,” said the 29-year-old. “I’ve had the best moments of my life on this court, I had the worst moment of my life on this court.

“I was laid in that corner four years ago with seven broken ligaments and two fractured bones. I lost a grand slam final here two years ago. Now finally it’s a happy end.”

Turning to his team sat in the stands, Zverev said: “We’ve been through so much, we’ve been through injuries, we’ve been through heartbreak, we’ve been losers in the most important moments, but, at the end of the day, we’re grand slam champions.”

Tenth seed Cobolli was an unexpected if not wholly unlikely opponent and the 24-year-old recovered well from a nervous start in his first slam final to push Zverev all the way before running out of gas in the fifth set.

Cobolli admitted he began suffering with cramp at the end of the fourth set, saying: “I felt so tired. My body left me on the court.”

An emotional and exhausted Zverev collapsed onto the clay when a final overhead from