Alexander Zverev of Hamburg, Germany has reached the men’s final of the 2026 French Open at Roland Garros. On Friday, Zverev, the second seed, defeated the 26th seed, Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
It did not take long for Zverev to find out who his Sunday opponent will be. That is because Matteo Arnaldi of Italy withdrew from the other semifinal due to illness. As a result, Zverev will face the 10th seed, Flavio Cobolli of Florence, Italy. Cobolli was to face Arnaldi in an all-Italian semifinal.
According to Cedric Rouquette of Tennis Majors, Arnaldi suffered from a virus. He could not get any food or liquid down without vomiting. Interestingly, Arnaldi suffered a similar incident in Acapulco last year.
In Zverev’s win, the German had the statistical advantage when it came to his serve. He had eight aces and two double faults, compared to Mensik, who had four aces and five double faults. Zverev also broke Mensik four times in seven opportunities.
Zverev beat Cobolli three times in four opportunities head-to-head. Zverev won 6-2, 7-6, 6-1 in the third round of the 2025 French Open, and 6-4, 7-6 in the quarterfinals of Halle in 2025. This will be third time in 2026 Zverev is facing Cobolli. In the semifinals of Munich, Cobolli won 6-3, 6-3 in Zverev’s home country. Then in the quarterfinals of Madrid, Zverev won 6-1, 6-4.
This is Zverev’s fourth career grand slam final, but has not won a grand slam title yet. He lost to Dominic Thiem of Austria in the final at the 2020 United States Open, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the final of the 2024 French Open, and Jannik Sinner of Italy in the final at the 2025 Australian Open.
