Germany’s Alexander Zverev admitted to being a bit tipsy following his French Open triumph – but it was the taste of Grand Slam glory which will spur him on rather than the champagne.
The 29-year-old finally got his hands on a major title in Paris after three lost Grand Slam finals, edging Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 on Sunday in Paris.
Zverev was aided by world number one Jannik Sinner going out early on the clay and twice champion Carlos Alcaraz missing with injury. But the 2021 Olympic champion now believes he can win more of the top prizes in tennis, with Wimbledon beginning later this month.
“Now no matter what happens, I will always be a Grand Slam champion, and nobody can take that away from me. Maybe that does give me some freedom. Maybe my mind will just be a little bit calmer when I play in a final,” he told reporters.
“This trophy for me is very important, because if I would have lost this one, the self-belief would have gone down a lot. But now that I’ve won it, I feel like I can do it again.”
He is the first German men’s major winner since Boris Becker won the last of his six at the Australian Open 30 years ago.
The fact Zverev did it at Roland Garros, where he was beaten by Alcaraz in the 2024 final and suffered a serious ankle injury against Rafa Nadal in the 2022 semis, was not lost on the world number three.
“I had some of the toughest moments of my tennis career here. I was lying on this court with an injury that I didn’t know if I would ever come back from. I lost a Grand Slam final here,’ he said.
“All of those memories for me, they’re not wiped out. They’re still with me, but this one will beat all of them.”
German tennis great Becker has long criticized Zverev but has also willed him on.
The 58-year-old was thrilled to see another German male major winner after Angeligue Kerber won three on the women’s side from 2016 to 2018, while Steffi Graf leads the way on 22.
“He is a Grand Slam champion, he is now in a very special club – and that feels damn good,” Becker told Eurosport.