Article by Roxana Fleşeru – Published Friday, 05 June 2026, 18:41 / Updated Friday, 05 June 2026 18:41
Alexander Zverev became the main favorite to win the trophy at Roland Garros immediately after Jannik Sinner was eliminated. And since the Italian lost in the second round, there was quite a lot of pressure on the shoulders of the German. After getting past Bonzi and Machac in three sets, the second seed defeated Halys in four sets and De Jong, Jodar in three sets.
In the semifinals, he had to face the tall young Czech Jakub Mensik (1.96 m), who was in this phase for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament.
The first set was a balanced one, both relying on serve, the German being the one who made the first break, at 6-5, then closed the first set with 7-5. The Czech tried to break his opponent's rhythm with several short ones, but their execution did not help him much. The dominance of the experienced German was more evident in the second set, where Zverev prevailed 6-2.
Jakub Mensik, wince of pride in the third set
The match continued along the same lines, with Zverev being solid on serve and Mensik trying to match him. At 2-1, the young Czech went to the locker room for a medical time-out, but he was not seen on the field, which was his problem. In the sixth game, the Czech made the first break, succeeding in two extremely well placed shorts, to the delight of the fans in the stands, who wanted a much longer and more contested match. The Czech managed to close it 6-3 in 38 minutes with a superb drop shot.
Alexander Zverev, who had lost seven semifinals out of ten played in the Grand Slam tournaments, did not panic, and in the fourth set he started more focused, managing to pull away at 3-0 and 4-1. Zverev closed the semifinal 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Alexander Zverev will play his fourth Grand Slam final
It was Alexander Zverev's 44th victory on the Parisian clay, tying Roger Federer, the winner from 2009, as they share 10th place on a list of successes at Roland Garros in the Open Era.
Alexander Zverev qualified for his fourth Grand Slam final, after the 2020 US Open, when he was defeated by Dominic Thiem, the 2024 Roland Garros, when he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz, and the 2025 Australian Open, when he was defeated by Jannik Sinner. The German became the fifth active player to mark more final acts at Roland Garros, after Novak Djokovic with 7, Wawrinka, Ruud and Alcaraz with two each.
In Sunday's final, the German will face the winner of the Matteo Arnaldi (25 years, 104 ATP) – Flavio Cobolli (24 years, 14 ATP) match, scheduled to start at 20:00 at the Philippe Chatrier arena.
