Alexander Zverev beat Czech Jakub Mensik in the semi-finals of the French Open and is once again aiming for his first Grand Slam title in Paris.
The dream lives on, there is only one step left: Alexander Zverev has stormed into the final of the French Open for the second time and is reaching for his first Grand Slam title. The Hamburger prevailed in the semi-finals 7:5, 6:2, 3:6, 6:3 against the 20-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik. In his 41st attempt at one of the four major tournaments, the Tokyo Olympic champion now wants to finally overcome the last hurdle and end his long hunt for the great triumph.
Final against Italians
An Italian is now waiting for Zverev in the fight for the Coupe des Mousquetaires, despite the early elimination of world number one Jannik Sinner: Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi will duel for the second final ticket in the French capital on Friday evening. Regardless of the outcome, Zverev will enter the Court Philippe-Chatrier as the favorite on Sunday; the chance of redemption is huge. He hopes that he will also then “could play a great match“Zverev said.
Confident victory against Mensik
Zverev was the more dominant player with the harder groundstrokes, but he also needed his strong first serve and a bit of luck when he fended off three break points at 3:4. However, he took advantage of his own first chance for a break – in keeping with the game after a mistake by Mensik. The German then won the set with an ace.
With that, Mensik’s resistance seemed almost broken. Zverev got a quick break in the second round to make it 2-1 and celebrated with his fist. Mensik now tried to shorten the rallies, but his German opponent almost always had a suitable answer ready.
First match point converted
Zverev had been on the pitch for four hours less during the tournament than his semi-final opponent, who was also struggling with cramps. But Mensik acted with significantly less pressure than in his quarter-final win against João Fonseca, and he also made many slight mistakes. The nervousness about the first Grand Slam semi-final of his career was clearly noticeable – and the much more experienced Zverev capitalized on it.
In the third set, the Czech needed a medical time-out during which he was treated for his neck and shoulder area. Mensik was better in the game after that, took the serve from Zverev to make it 4-2 and gained new hope after winning the third round. But Zverev quickly took that away from him with the break to make it 2-0 in the fourth set. After around three hours, the 2021 Olympic champion ended the game with his first match point. “I knew it would be a difficult challenge” said Zverev almost matter-of-factly, after all it’s still too early for a party mood: “I won, I’m happy.”
First German French Open winner?
With Zverev, a German player reached the final in Paris several times for the first time since professional tennis began in 1968. In the final, he can now become the first German French Open winner since Henner Henkel in 1937 and the first German Grand Slam champion in men’s singles since Boris Becker at the Australian Open in 1996. In the women’s singles, the German Steffi Graf won the tournament in Paris six times.
Two years ago, Zverev was on the verge of his first title at the Bois de Boulogne, but in the final he lost in five sets against Carlos Alcaraz – after leading 2-1. The 29-year-old suffered his first defeat in a Grand Slam final at the US Open in 2020 against Dominic Thiem from Austria, and he also lost to Sinner in Melbourne in 2025. In Paris, Zverev finally wants to stop the series of bankruptcies.