4th Grand Slam Final
Zverev Wins and Advances to the French Open Final
The men’s French Open final will feature Alexander Zverev against Flavio Cobolli. The 29-year-old German won Friday’s semifinal against the Czech Jakub Mensik, who is nine years his junior, 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
In Sunday’s final (3:00 p.m./live on ServusTV), he can secure his first Grand Slam title against the 10th-seeded Italian Flavio Cobolli: The latter did not have to play in the semifinals because his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi is ill.
Zverev, who was the only top-ten player to reach the semifinals, is thus in his fourth major final following the 2020 US Open (loss to Dominic Thiem), Roland Garros two years ago, and last year’s Australian Open. In any case, he is the only semifinalist who has ever reached a final at one of the four Grand Slams.
Here are the match statistics:
Against Mensik, who had previously eliminated Alex de Minaur (AUS-8) and Andrey Rublev (RUS-11), among others, he ultimately faced little threat. Only after a medical timeout in the third set did Mensik manage to break serve to make it 4-2 and win the set. But the youngster couldn’t really put the veteran in any real trouble; a break to make it 2-0 in the fourth set set the stage for victory after 3 hours and 1 minute.
Favorite against Cobolli as well
The world No. 3 has dropped only two sets so far and will certainly be the favorite on Sunday. Zverev is the first German to reach a French Open final for the second time; he could become the first German champion in the city on the Seine. “He played a great tournament. I managed to pull it off, I won, and I’m happy. I hope I can play another strong match on Sunday.”
With the withdrawal of injured defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, the early exit of top favorite Jannik Sinner following a heat-related illness, and the elimination of Novak Djokovic, the title is almost being thrust upon Zverev as an obligation. “If he doesn’t win it now,” said tennis icon John McEnroe, “then he’ll probably never win it”—voicing what many are thinking. So far, however, Zverev has withstood the pressure.
FRENCH OPEN PARIS (Grand Slam, €61.72 million, clay)
Semifinals:
Alexander Zverev (GER-2) – Jakub Mensik (CZE-26) 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Flavio Cobolli (ITA-10) – Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) w.o. *
* Arnaldi was unable to play on Friday due to a viral illness.
Final on Sunday (3 p.m.): Zverev – Cobolli
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