Finally: First career Grand Slam title for Alexander Zverev

Carlos Alcaraz withdrew due to injury, Janik Siner was eliminated in the second round, and Novak Djokovic in the third round of Roland Garros - in such a situation, the clear path to the title at Roland Garros was for the German tennis player, Alexander Zverev, who had never won a Grand Slam trophy in his career.

And the world's third-ranked tennis player finally broke that barrier today, defeating Italian Flavio Cobolli in the final in Paris after five sets - 6:1, 4:6, 6:4, 6:7, 6:1.

In his fourth Grand Slam final, the German finally reached his goal - the title and the greatest success of his career, in addition to gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The German tennis player lost to Dominic Thiem (3:2) in his first Grand Slam final six years ago after a five-set comeback at the US Open. Then, two years ago, at Roland Garros, he lost to Carlos Alcaraz (3:2), and last year in the Australian Open final to Janik Siner (3:0).

"This court is special to me, I've had the best moments of my career here. I lost the final here two years ago, it was painful, and tonight was a happy ending. I really felt like the crowd was pushing me from the first moment and thank you for everything. Thanks to my team too, we're a good team, we've known each other for 29 years," said Zverev.

Zverev opened the grand final perfectly, breaking the first game and breaking the Italian twice more by the end of the first set to take a 1-0 lead.

There was only one break in the second set, and it came in the seventh game from Koboli, who held his serve until the end of that set and tied the game.

The third set was similar to the second, but in the end it was Zverev who was the winner. The German missed two break points in the fourth game, and then took advantage of a third chance in the tenth game - which also happened to be a set point - and the world number three took a 2-1 lead in sets.

The fourth set was uncertain, with three breaks seen until the middle of that part, and then Koboli served to tie the sets at 5:4. However, he failed - Zverev pulled away, broke his rival's serve, tied the set, and then, despite some problems, took the fourth set to a tiebreak.

The tie-break was no less exciting. Zverev tied three points, leading 3:1, but by the end of the tie-break he had won only two points, so the final went to the fifth set.

At the start of the fifth set, when it seemed that Koboli had the psychological advantage, Zverev broke, saved a break point in the second game, and then broke his rival's serve once again to take a 3:0 lead. After that, there was no turning back for Koboli.

"It's not easy for me to talk at this moment, but I would start with Alex. There is no tennis player who deserves this trophy more than you. I'm just proud that we have a good relationship on and off the court. I'm happy for you, but sad for myself. You've achieved your dream, and I hope to achieve mine next time. These have been the best weeks of my life, the best Grand Slam for me," said Koboli.