Zverev ends wait for Grand Slam title with French Open triumph

PARIS: Alexander Zverev finally secured his maiden Grand Slam title with a dramatic five-set victory over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final on Sunday.

The second seed became the first German man to win a major tournament since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 win after four hours and 16 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.

It was Zverev’s fourth Grand Slam final and second at Roland Garros after some heartbreaking near misses in his career.

Cobolli, the 10th seed, was bidding to become the first Italian man to win the French Open in 50 years.

The 24-year-old had never even played a Slam semifinal before, let alone a final, after his last-four opponent Matteo Arnaldi withdrew from the tournament through illness.

Both players appeared to struggle with nerves at various points in the match, especially Cobolli during an error-strewn first set.

But Zverev’s greater experience showed in a deciding set that was far tenser than the scoreline suggested, as he managed to get over the line.

The 29-year-old was handed a golden opportunity to break his Grand Slam duck by the injury-enforced absence of reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz and surprise early exits for Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.

The world number three was not always in control, making 54 unforced errors, but did enough to finally shed the tag of being one of the best players to have never won a major.

Zverev had previously also lost in six Slam quarter-finals and seven semifinals, alongside his three final defeats.

The most agonizing miss of all was his first major final when he blew a two-set lead and failed to serve for the championship against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.

The now-retired