Among the players still in the running, it was the most likely final on paper and in the end it was: On Sunday at 15pm on the clay court in Paris, the Italian Flavio Cobolli and the German Alexander Zverev will compete for the Roland Garros Grand Slam title.In the first semifinal, Zverev defeated the emerging Czech Jakub Mensik in four sets, who had a great tournament. The Roman, however, who is already certain of breaking into the top 10 at Roland Garros no matter how the final goes, didn't even have to take the court because his opponent, the other Italian, Matteo Arnaldi, withdrew before the match even started due to a virus.
Precedents say Zverev by 3 wins to 1
Zverev and Cobolli have faced each other four times: the German, currently ranked number 3 in the world and therefore the big favorite given the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and the early elimination of Jannik Sinner, has won three times, while the Italian has won only once. Cobolli's only victory dates back to this year in the clay tournament in Hamburg, by 6-3, 6-3More recently, he defeated Zverev in straight sets at the Madrid Masters 1000, while the German also won the two 2025 clashes, on the grass of Halle and again at Roland Garros, in the third round. On that occasion, on the Parisian clay, Sasha won three sets to love.
First Slam final for Cobolli, the German's fourth
This is Flavio Cobolli's first Grand Slam final: he can bring the title back to Italy exactly 50 years after Adriano Panatta and a year after his national teammate Jannik Sinner was defeated in the final. Zverev, who has never won a Slam, will try for the fourth time: he has lost all three finals he has played so far, at the 2020 US Open against Dominic Thiem, at Roland Garros two years ago against Carlitos Alcaraz and at the 2025 Australian Open against Sinner.
