Alexander Zverev has continued his steady, methodical progress at Roland Garros, reaching his second final in Paris in the past three years.
The No.2 seed ended the herculean campaign of Czech rising star Jakub Mensik on Friday, winning 7-5 6-2 3-6 6-3 to advance to a Grand Slam final for the third straight season.
In the fourth major final of his career, Zverev will meet the untested Flavio Cobolli, who advanced without hitting a ball when semifinal opponent Matteo Arnaldi withdrew, citing illness.
At 29 years of age, Zverev is one win away from capturing his first Slam title, six years after reaching his first major final.
“The only thing I can control is that I play good tennis. I will try to show my level. I will try to do the right things. That's the only thing that matters to me,” said Zverev, who also reached finals at 2024 Roland Garros and Australian Open 2025.
“I was not playing the best tennis last year, but I felt like I was going to find it again. I'm happy to be back at this stage.”
Zverev enters Sunday’s decider more than 12 months removed from his last title, having lost his past three ATP finals, and with an 0-3 record in Grand Slam finals.
History indicates he is tracking to end that drought. Of the 31 men before him in the Open era to have reached at least four Slam finals, all of them have won a major title. And like women’s finalist Mirra Andreeva, Zverev owns the best Grand Slam winning percentage – 75.6 per cent, thanks to a 124-40 record – of any player yet to win a major.
That success rate rises even higher at Roland Garros, to 81.48 per cent; his win over Mensik was his 44th from 54 matches at the event.
Zverev was at his solid and aggressive best against the Czech. He landed three quarters of his first serves, attained speeds of 223km/h and won almost 80 per cent of first-serve points. And that was all while striking more winners and less unforced errors.
After another commanding performance, he has dropped just two sets during his fortnight in Paris.
In a tournament defined by high-profile upsets, Zverev has advanced to the final without facing a top-20 player. The last time a man reached a Slam final without meeting a top-20 opponent was six years ago, when it was also Zverev at the 2020 US Open.
That was the German’s first major final, at a time he struggled with his now-vaunted serve.
Zverev believes he’s come a long way as a player since that moment, where he led two-sets-to-love and served for the title only for Dominic Thiem to prevail.
“When I stand there [to serve now], I decide what I want to do, and I just do it kind of in a way. I hope it continues working that way. It's definitely a shot that I spend a lot of years on to improve,” said Zverev, who averaged 182km/h on his second serve against Mensik and won almost two-thirds of those points.
“That [2020 US Open final] was exactly the time when I had real struggles with my serve and my second serve. I knew that my serve could break down at any moment. That's one difference that I do feel now, luckily for me.
“That's in the past, and I don't try to think too much about it before Sunday.”
Cobolli represents a top-20 test for Zverev, the rising Italian star now projected to crack the top 10 after reaching his first major final.
Zverev leads the head-to-head 3-1, including a win at Roland Garros last year, and their most recent meeting in Madrid in May. Yet Cobolli did score a win over Zverev on clay in Munich and enters rested after not having to compete in the semifinals.
“I feel fine. I didn't have brutally long matches. I honestly feel like I could play again now, so not really [an advantage for him],” Zverev countered with a smile.
“I look forward to playing him in the final. Of course, it's his first final, so I'm happy for him that he reached it.
“He's a great player, great guy. I like him.”