The Tears Shed at Roland Garros and the Meaning of a 'Well-Deserved First Title' Bestowed by a True Great

Grand Slam: French Open

The men's singles final... oh my... well, rather than talking about the content of the match, I want to start by offering my congratulations!

Zverev has achieved his long-cherished first Grand Slam title!
Congratulations!!
Honestly, I thought it might be impossible for him, but he finally won!

The score was a fierce battle that went to a full set: 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1!
The moment Cobolli's smash went out and the victory was decided, Zverev collapsed onto the court, lying on his back and weeping... it made me tear up too!

Runner-up Cobolli also played a magnificent match.
In the first set, he was clearly stiff from the nerves of his first final. He lost it 6-1 to Zverev in no time, but perhaps that was when he finally settled down.

'That's enough. Forget winning or losing, just play my own tennis with everything I've got!'
...with that mindset, he began to swing his weapon—his powerful forehand—with full force whenever he saw an opening, and it started landing beautifully. It was truly a 'do or die' spirit. He made mistakes, but he didn't lose his aggression, and he started coming to the net at crucial moments and landing drop shots, allowing Cobolli to take the second set.

However, Zverev has the superior raw ability.
He displayed aggressive play that seemed to wipe away his previous image of 'waiting for the opponent's mistakes.' Focusing on his backhand, he hit strong, solid balls while making safe choices, gradually cornering Cobolli with the power of his shots and his low error count to take the third set.

And I think Cobolli's play in the fourth set was truly wonderful!
Zverev's serve was in excellent form that day, with an in-percentage of over 80% throughout the match, so breaking him twice was truly amazing! He committed to his backhand for consistency, and whenever he could create even a little space with his forehand, he would blast it! Even if it came back, he'd blast it again! This pattern continued with surprise drop shots, and the crowd's support began to lean toward Cobolli. He desperately forced a tiebreak and took back the fourth set.

The match then entered the decisive final set, but it seemed Zverev began to have trouble managing his physical condition due to his diabetes, and his movement became less sharp than in the first half of the match. Still, he held on, appearing to play while waiting for his recovery.

Meanwhile, Cobolli had been playing at full throttle the whole time, and perhaps due to extreme mental tension, his legs began to cramp, leading to many mistakes... it's a matter of hindsight, but if not for those cramps, the result might have been different.
Unable to keep up with Zverev's movement, he stopped moving his feet even for relatively easy smashes, leading to a string of errors, which only increased his tension.

It was also very impressive that Zverev lacked the passivity and hesitation seen in his previous final-round appearances.
He clung on desperately to Cobolli's power shots even while clearly struggling physically.
He hung in there with lobs to draw out smash errors.
He chased down drop shots with everything he had, never giving up once, and turned them into counterattacks.
His figure, continuing to pick up balls with total focus and attacking with power and net play at every slight opportunity, could only be described as 'devoted.'

And on the final match point, he chased down a lob he desperately lifted—Cobolli missed the smash, and the victory was decided.

◆ ◇ ◆

This marks Zverev's first title in his fourth Grand Slam final appearance.
Looking back at tennis history, there have been many champions who achieved wonderful records only after finally winning a title following many frustrating experiences. I watched the awards ceremony with that thought in my mind.

—Ivan Lendl.
After the frustrating experience of losing to Borg, Connors, and his junior Wilander, he finally won his first French Open title, and his record from then on was impeccable for a legend.

—Andre Agassi.
He reached the French Open final at a young age. While expected to win, he suffered a shocking defeat to the underdog Gomez. After the frustration of losing to Sampras and Courier, who had been in his shadow during their junior days, he won his first title at Wimbledon. In an era dominated by big servers, no one expected a baseline player to conquer the grass of Wimbledon.

—Goran Ivanišević.
He boasted invincibility at Wimbledon with his 190 km/h slice serve and even faster flat serve, but after reaching the final and losing three times to Agassi and Sampras, he slumped due to injury. His surprise first title at the 2001 Wimbledon, where he received a wildcard, was also moving.

—Andy Murray.
He reached the finals many times during the Big Three era but couldn't overcome the wall of Federer and Djokovic, losing four times in a row. He wept while choking back words in his speech after losing the Wimbledon final to Federer, which carried the hopes of all of Britain. Using that frustration as a springboard, he overwhelmed Federer to win the gold medal at the London Olympics on the same court just four weeks later in 2012. His subsequent first US Open title also left a strong impression.

—Dominic Thiem.
He lost twice to Nadal at the French Open and once to Djokovic at the Australian Open, losing three consecutive finals. Many likely remember the fierce battle he fought head-to-head against Nadal, who was invincible on clay in his prime. And I think it is still fresh in our memories that in 2020, he defeated Zverev to win his first US Open title in the strange atmosphere of an empty stadium during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zverev, who achieved his Grand Slam victory at this year's French Open, also secured his first title after suffering three consecutive losses to Thiem, and then to Alcaraz and Sinner.

There is one more active player who has experienced three consecutive losses in Grand Slam finals.
Casper Ruud is that player, and although he was defeated by the explosive power of the young Fonseca this time, I believe that seeing Zverev lift the championship cup has made him vow to make a comeback as well.

◆ ◇ ◆

Returning to Zverev, when I look back at his career so far and think of the champions who achieved Grand Slam glory only after great hardship, I am reminded once again that this victory Zverev has achieved is undoubtedly worthy of praise.

Living with diabetes since childhood, he was even told by doctors,
“It is impossible for you to be active on the world stage as an athlete.”
…Yet he did not let those words defeat him and continued to face his own body.
Tennis fans should know that he has been making tireless efforts together with his team.

The path to a victory that had remained out of reach so many times.
And the abnormal heat in Paris this year.

I think it is truly wonderful that Zverev has finally reached a height where he could overcome those high walls, one by one.

However, after the match results were in, I felt sad to see many disparaging comments on social media, such as:
“Compared to last year's match, this year's final feels so boring.”
“It was clearly a lower-level final compared to Sinner and Alcaraz.”
…and so on.

Zverev's frustration and sadness until now, and the effort he put in to overcome a major injury.
I want to ask if people can really say such things even after understanding those parts that are not visible just from the match.

It is true that he may have been blessed with a favorable draw this time, but the professional world is not so easy that you can win on luck alone. First, you must stand on a foundation capable of such performance, and on top of that, possess results greater than Zverev's. Perhaps only people in such a position can say such things. But those top-tier players would never say such things.

Nadal, who has retired, was quick to post a congratulatory comment after Zverev's victory.

“Congratulations! Your hard work and persistence have paid off. I think it is a truly deserved first title!”

…The super-elite must recognize their own kind.
I think it is a short but heartfelt and warm message.

And those who write heartless comments are also negating these words from Nadal.
Is there really anyone in this world in a position to do such a thing?
To be honest, that is the one thing I wanted to say.

The world should be a kind place where people who work hard and achieve amazing things are genuinely praised.
Feeling that way, I would like to put down my pen for now.