We Need to Be Honest About Zverev's Roland Garros Win

Alexander Zverev finally claimed his elusive major title on Sunday, defeating Flavio Cobolli to win the 2026 Roland Garros championships. Zverev's victory was celebrated by many within the tennis community as the German's struggles to win a major were well-known. But some fans were especially disappointed in the result, considering Zverev's prior allegations. 

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After falling short in slam finals on three previous occasions, Alexander Zverev finally shed the title of best player to never win a major after defeating Flavio Caboli 6'1-4664-6761 in Paris. Zverev, who is the first German man in the open air to win Rolling Girls, received a good amount of love from his tennis peers after the triumph. But many fans were left with a poor taste in their mouths, considering Zverev's checkered pass. Y'all know I'm not afraid to get into it all, and this video would be no different. I'll analyze what happened on court during this final and explain the context to what's happened off of it. Plus, I'll briefly look ahead to the grass season, which is already here, and talk about who Serena Williams will face in her comeback match and her comments ahead of said a comeback match. Bonjour, JMFL, Christian Bass Knight, and Benvenue Ala Christian's Court, where I cover tennis from all angles. If you haven't yet already, make sure you subscribe and click the notification bell so you're notified whenever I post more tennis updates and content. So giving my initial thoughts of the final between Zverev and Kaboli, I thought it was a pretty good, entertaining final. It definitely wasn't a, of course, an Alcada Center 2025 Rolling Girls final, but it was it was good, especially considering how both Flavio and Alexander were both playing for their first slam titles, and obviously there would be nerves and we would see periods of not great tennis, but overall I think it was solid. The drama was there was there for the most part. The ending was definitely anticlimatic, but it definitely had some high highs. And I think it was a fitting end to a pretty entertaining men's tournament. This was the 32nd, fifth set match of the tournament, bringing it one shy of the tournament record from 1992 and 2001. And it was also the third straight Rolling Girls final to go to five sets. The first set was pretty much all Zverev. I think Kaboli may have been a little bit nervous, understandably so, as this was his first slam final and he hadn't played his semifinal match, so he was also maybe a little bit rusty, but he was just too air prone, hitting 16 unforced errors to only three winners in the first set. And overall, Zverev was just more solid. He played within himself but wasn't too passive. He hit nine winners, nine unforced errors in the opening set. And Zverev also returned very well. He won 57% of his receiving points compared to Flavio, who won 29% of his return points. I think Flavio definitely settled in much better in the second set. His inside out forehand was firing, and that was a huge shot for him pretty much for this entire match. It was a little bit more error-prone in the opening set, but but in the second set, it won him quite a few points. He also served much better compared to the first set, and his first serve points won rose from 47% in the opening set to 80% in set number two. Also, Flavio's average serve speed, first serve speed, was 121 miles per hour, and that was up from 114 miles per hour in the opening set. Zverev was cruising on serve for a good part of the second set, and at one point he'd won 14 straight points behind his serve. But Kaboli snapped that streak at 3-all, 30 love in the second set, and he connected with some great returns. And Zverev, he did have three game points in this three-all game. But I think Flavio, once he was able to claw his way out and eventually get the break, that changed the entire course of the match. And I also got to give credit to Kaboli for venturing forward a little bit more and having more success at the net. And he won all six points at the net in the second set. In the third set, Zverev really put on a complete serving clinic. He dropped just one point behind his serve, and he was also pretty solid from the ground, hitting 13 winners to just seven unforced heirs. Flavio was doing well, although Zverev had some openings early on in the set, but Kaboli did well to save them off. Although he did get broken in the very last game of the third set. That was despite him holding a 30 love lead. I think Kaboli's forehand really let him down in this game. Every last point he lost, all the four points he lost at 4-5 were from four hand errors. And I think that's really indicative of how Kaboli just plays in general. Like if his forehand is firing and if he's playing well behind that shot, he's gonna do well. But if not, then it can get a little bit dicey for him. He's a little bit of a hot and cold type of player, and we definitely saw that in this final. Now Zverev's serve definitely was not as strong in the fourth set, and it was the only set in this match where he served below 70% as he hit 67% of his first serves in, which is still pretty good, but not great for his standards. And Zverev won just 42% of his second serve points. I think he won about 63% of his first serve points, which again, not great for his standards. And Alexander also started cramping a little bit later towards the fourth set, but that actually seemed to help him, and he was started playing more aggressive, and he admitted that in his TNT interview that with him not feeling as well physically, he felt like he had to go for more shots, for more on his shots. But after being 3-5 down in the fourth set, Zverev did well and he clawed back to win three games in a row, and he also had a 3-1 lead in the tie break. And at this point, I thought the championship was his. But I think Zverev felt the moment a little bit. He threw in a double fault or so, and Kaboli gotta give credit to him. He produced some high-level tennis, he executed well with the drop shots and also amped up the aggression even more with the forehand, and the shots were landing. And I also gotta give Flavio his flowers because when he had set point on his serve at 6-4, he constructed the point well, had a pretty sitter like forehand volley, and I thought, like, dang, is that it? But then the very next point, he clinched the set with this screaming forehand down-the-line winner on the run. That's one thing about Flavio, he's gonna go for his shots, whether it be for the best or for the worst, he's gonna go for it. And it paid off for him in the fourth set. The fifth set, it was definitely similar to the opening set as far as the, you know, obviously the score line, but I think it was more competitive, and that Flavio definitely had more chances to win more than the single game that he did win. Kaboli, he was more error prone for sure. The forehand inside out started misfiring again, and in the fifth set, he had four winners to 15 unforced errors. Honestly, Zverev wasn't that spectacular in the fifth set. He hit six winners, nine unforced errors, zero aces, three double faults. And I really think if Flavio maintained a higher level, he could have taken this fifth set. But with this being his first final above 500 level, it'd just be too great of an ask. And I honestly don't fault him for not raising his level higher. I think he started thinking after he won the first set, like, man, I can actually win this. I can win a slam. He had four break points in his first two return games, but wasn't able to find the shakier Zverev forehand enough. And Alexander, I think, was smart with his forehand. He wasn't really going after it as much as I think he could have, but he often went top spin line to get the ball a little bit higher and out of Flavio's strike zone on his backhand, and that gave Zverev his best shot, his backhand, which he often used down the line. And if not down the line, Zverev used the backhand as a drop shot. His drop shot was definitely a huge shot for him in the deciding set. It was another way for him to avoid forehands, but it also was a way to draw Flavio in and ultimately pass him. And Zverev won quite a few shots, quite a few points behind the drop shot. I think if Flavio converted on at least one of those breakpoints in his opening two return games, then things could have gotten more interesting. I just think that with there being no real scoreboard pressure facing Zverev, it was definitely easier for him to close it out. But that overhead miss when Kaboli had breakpoint at Love 3, it was definitely unfortunate. And it was Loki also foreshadowing to the eventual match point. Kaboli's serve didn't do him many favors either in the fifth set. His first serve percentage was the lowest in the fourth set at 47%, and it did rise to 52% in the fifth set. But Flavio's average first surf speed dropped drastically from 125 miles per hour to 114 miles per hour. Zverev's average second surf speed nearly matched this, as it was 112 miles per hour. And this serve speed is important because obviously Zverev has a better read on his serve, and Flavio's not able to win as many free or easy points. He was he wasn't able to gain an edge, a greater edge in the rallies behind his first serve. Kaboli will definitely be disappointed with how the match finished, but he should hold his head high on a phenomenal tournament and a phenomenal final. I'm very impressed by him. And I again with this being his maiden slam final, he should be proud. And I'm definitely impressed with how hard he fought throughout this entire match. This could have easily been a straight sets win for Zverev, but he fought until the bitter end, and he again should be proud. And not only will he leave with vital experience from playing in his maiden slam final, but he'll also walk away with a new career high ranking of number 10 in the world. So that's excellent for him. And the question is, will he be back in this position of playing for a slam title and a slam final? I mean, honestly, why not? He's still young at 24 years old, and I think again, this result will only give him more confidence for more big results. So it's hard to say what type of career Flavio will have, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this was his only slam final appearance, and this might have been his best ever shot at winning a slam. And I think that for sure played a role of why he didn't perform his best in that fifth set. But moving forward, I think this final shows that there's still definitely room for Flavio to grow, and that's great news for him. He definitely is not peaking, I think. His shot selection could be a little bit better, and I think he can develop his serve to be a little bit more of an effective weapon. But he already has such a great all-around game. He's an exciting player to watch, and he definitely gained a lot of fans from this run. Now, with Zverev, like I said before, he is no longer the best man to not win a major. And right now, I think he has a Hall of Fame career. He completed tennis really low-key as far as winning at every level from the 250 level, 500, 1000. He won an ATP finals title and then the Olympic gold, and now a slam. And I think it's fitting that his first slam came here at Roland Garros after he tore ankle ligaments during his infamous semifinal loss, retirement loss, to Nadal here in 2022. I do have to talk about the elephant in the room, or there's really multiple elephants in the room, but one of them is that I've seen conversations about should there be an asterisk next to Zverev's title with this run, as it it honestly was a pretty weak title run. I'm not gonna sugar sugarcoat it. He did not have to face a single top 10 player to win this slam, which is very, very rare. And it's definitely interesting considering how Zverev does not have the best top 10 record in slams. He's 5 and 19 against top 10 players and majors, and he didn't score his first top 10 win at a major until 2022, Rolling Girls, where he beat Carlos. Yeah, like I I'm not trying to take anything away from it, I'm just being real. We gotta look at we have to look at the facts of the matter. This was a weak title run. That said, you have to beat whoever is in front of you. And I do have to give credit to Zverev for handling the nerves and the pressure of being such an overwhelming favorite. And I think it's also indicative of how big of a gap there is between you know Senkoraz and the rest of the field. I don't agree with Zverev that he's right there with Alcaraz as far as level is concerned, but I do think there's a gap with him and Novak on the same level and then everyone else, because these top 10 players were disappointing for sure. Thinking about the likes of FAA, he was pretty disappointing against Kaboli in that quarterfinal. Yes, Flavio played well, but Phyllis could have at least pushed it to five sets. Taylor Fritz, I know he was injured, but still D Minor, Achop, Rublev. I don't know if he's top 10 right now, but he could have done better. There are so many guys who are gonna be disappointed with themselves and how they perform. Definitely Dunil Medvedev, he's another one. It's it's a reflection of how low-key kind of wide open and low-key weak the tour is at the top level. That said, it was nice seeing some new fresh faces go deep. And I think that was the most enjoyable part of the men's tournament for me seeing the likes of you know Fonseca, even Mengik do well, and them legitimately having shots at winning the title. But it's also interesting too, because on the flip side, you know that there are players like Yannick, for example, who are capable of playing at a higher level. Don't get me wrong, Alexander and Flavio for sure deserve to be here. But I caught myself during this final thinking, like, dang, if Yannick was healthy, we would have had, like, he could have shown a better level than this. And I know that's a kind of a crazy thing to say. And center, I mean, he I hate to say this too, but he deserved to fall out. Like, that's what happened. It's just how the cookies crumble. He should have planned his schedule better. It was very reminiscent of the 2020 US Open, I feel, where Team Ezverev were playing in the final, and you just think that if Djokovic hadn't gotten defaulted, then he probably would have showed a better level and he probably would have won that title. No disrespect to Dominic team, but just gotta keep it a buck. Not gonna lie, it did feel a little bit weird seeing Alexander holding a slam trophy just with the Sinkadazz dominance. It was just a weird sight to see someone not named Yannick or Carlos lift a slam title. And it's also uh weird to me, I think, because again, I know Yannick probably would have watched him in this final. I gotta be real. I'm not trying to glaze Yannick, but we have to think about it in the context of this season. Yannick beats Verev, Indian Wales, Miami, Monte Carlo, and Madrid, all those tournaments. I'm not again, I'm not trying to take anything away from Zverev, but it's just it's just weird. It's just a little bit weird. But another thing that's a little bit off-putting for definitely a lot of people is just the fact that Zverev was the winner of this tournament. Because while he did receive a lot of love from a lot of people within the tennis community, including Billie Jean King, which is really interesting, a lot of fans were not feeling him. And it was definitely a little bit of a mixed reaction. I still say that most people were happy for him, but quite a few still, especially on tennis Twitter, were not fond of it. And that is because Zverev has been accused of domestic violence. And quick trigger warning to people I will be talking about domestic abuse, but giving y'all the context to this, two years ago, on the day that Zverev booked his maiden Roland Girls final, he settled a case related to domestic abuse charges brought by his baby mama, Brenda Pateo. And Patea said that Zverev pushed her against a wall and ched her during an argument back in 2020. Brenda told her friends about the incident, but did not file a legal complaint for three years, partly due to her feeling shame about the incident. A German court issued Zverev a penalty order fining him about 480,000 US dollars, because in German law, such an order can be used when there's compelling evidence to support the accusation and a trial isn't deemed necessary. Zverev did later contest this order. This was the second DV allegation Zverev faced from a former partner, as in 2021, his ex-girlfriend Oya Sheripova accused Verev of repeated abuse in 2019 in multiple different cities, including New York, Shanghai, and Geneva. Sheripova never took these claims to court but told her story to Ben Rothenberg for articles in Slate and Racquet magazine. Verev denied both these allegations and the ATP conducted a 15-month investigation into Sheripova's allegations. They said they found insufficient evidence to substantiate the claims and thus would not discipline Zverev. And that's a big reason of why people think Zverev is innocent. But from me personally, from reading the Slate article and the Racket magazine article before it was taken down, I think the signs indicate that there was some type of altercation between Oya and Alexander. And I believe these women. And that's also taking into account some of Alexander's questionable on court behavior in the past. But regardless of what I or what anyone else believes, Alexander Zverev is indeed a major champion. Now, will he win another one? I honestly don't think so. He's not too young at 29 years old, but you never know. Maybe a draw can open up for him yet again. As right now, he clearly is the third best player in the world below center in Alcatraz. And if they somehow get injured or lose, then he's once again going to be the favorite. But Zverev was not the only champion crowned on Sunday as Taylor Townsend and Katarina Sinjakova claimed the women's doubles title. They defeated Alexandra Kunich and Anna Delinina 6275 in the championship. This is their third slam together. Taylor's third slam and Katarina's 11th. Taylor and Katarina will be going for the career slam together at the US Open. Sinakova already won the career slam with Babora Krachikova. So for her to do that with another partner is a testament to her being goaded in doubles, really. But these two have been dominant for most of the season. They won the Sunshine Double, Madrid, and Naurolangueros. So they're gonna be a favorite wherever they play from now on forward. But looking ahead to the grass season now, the big story is definitely Serena Williams returning to tennis, and she will return this week at the Queens 500 tournament, partnering Victoria and Boco. And Williams and Boco will open against the third seeds Aaron Rutliffe and Nicole Melichara Martinez. And that's a tough draw because both Aaron and Nicole are top 15 doubles players. That match will be held on Tuesday. Serena had a pre-tournament press conference on Sunday where she said that she's right now pretty much focusing on doubles, but is not ruling out a singles comeback. I personally don't think we'll see her play singles at one-in, but I think a US Open Singles wild card could be in the works for her. But Serena also said that she's not too worried about winning and that she's mainly playing so that her daughters can watch her play and probably she just missed it and wanted to play again. But on the topic of singles, looking at the Queen's draw, Elena Robacina will be the top seed, and she has a pretty tricky draw as she will open against either Maria Sakri or the defending champion, Tatiana Maria, who actually beat her last year. Then in the quarterfinals, Rabakina could meet Layla Fernandez or Junction Wen. And then in the semifinals, Mboko, Kostriak, or Plishkova. In the bottom half, Amena Anisimova could meet Compatriate Ivayovich in the quarterfinals, or she could play Alex Ayala, who just won a 125 title in Birmingham on the grass. Then Belinda Benchic, Sorana Kerste, and Emirata Kanu are potential semifinal opponents for N. Samova as well. And Stuttgart, Ben Shelton is the top seed, and he is projected to face Corinthumut in the quarterfinals, who opens against Nick Kurios, who's playing in his second singles tournament of the season. Yuri Leheshka and Francis Tiafo are potential semifinal opponents for Shelton. And then Tommy Paul, Alexander Bublik, and Taylor Fritz are all in the bottom half of the draw. And Short Hoganbosch, Felix Rosjay Aliasim, is the top seed, and FAA has a pretty tough draw as he could open against Hubert Herkoch. Daniel Medvedev and Dunisha Povalov are his potential semifinal opponents. And in the bottom half, there's Alex Demonor, Ugo Umber, and Arthur Renanesh. But that is all I have for my Roland Garrett's men's final recap video. Let me know y'all's thoughts on the final, and if you were indeed entertained, what would y'all rate it on a scale from one to five as far as like five stars? I would give it a cool 3.75 stars, maybe four stars. But I think if the ending were better, then maybe it would be a little bit higher. The quality, it was solid for the most part, the drama was there for the most part. So I was satisfied overall. But yeah, let me know your thoughts on that and your thoughts overall on Zverev being a slam champion, as well as do you think that Zverev will win a second slam, or do you think that Kobol will ever win a slam? Again, make sure you all subscribe and click that notification bell so you are notified whenever I post more content coming soon. I still have my Roland Garros fashion review to put out, and then I have a bunch of other content in my mind that I really want to get out regarding Roland Garros as well. So stay tuned for all of that. But thank y'all so much for watching and for your support these last few weeks. It's really meant a lot. And I will see y'all soon here on Christian's Court.