Alexander Zverev hopes winning his first Grand Slam tennis crown at the French Open will unblock the path to more major titles after years of near-misses and heartbreak.
Zverev broke his major drought at the fourth time of asking by beating Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 in the final in Paris.
After painful past defeats in title matches at the 2020 US Open, French Open in 2024 and last year’s Australian Open,
Zverev was considered by many to be the best player never to have won a Grand Slam.
The 29-year-old joked it was “fine” if people now consider him “the worst player to win a Grand Slam” but that he “could not care less.”
“Now no matter what happens, I will always be a Grand Slam champion, and nobody can take that away from me,” Zverev added.
The Tokyo Olympics gold medalist said winning the French Open would make his future attempts at winning major titles less burdensome, mentally. “This trophy helps the belief a lot,” he said. “That does give me some freedom ... maybe my mind will just be a little bit calmer when I play a final ... now that I’ve won it, I feel like I can do it again.”
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
