The draw at this year’s French Open has been wide open following the shock early exits of Sinner and Djokovic, alongside Alcaraz’s injury absence. But Sasha Zverev has, very steadily and solid, marched through the chaos. Today he booked his place in Sunday’s final with a 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over 20-year-old Jakub Mensik.
Aside from a brief third-set wobble, Zverev looked entirely in control on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Dominated the baseline duels
The world No. 3 entered the match under pressure as the tournament’s highest-ranked remaining player. He largely dominated the baseline duels on Court Philippe-Chatrier, briefly losing focus in the third set before asserting his authority in the fourth to wrap up the victory in exactly three hours.
“I knew it was going to be the toughest challenge so far. I managed, I won, I’m happy”, Sasha commented after the match.
With this victory, the 29-year-old German advances to his fourth career major final, and his second in Paris. Sunday’s championship match represents a massive opportunity for Zverev, who will go into the final as the clear favourite.
He awaits the winner of the all-Italian semifinal between world No. 14 Flavio Cobolli and world No. 104 Matteo Arnaldi.
Zverev’s Grand Slam Final History
The German is looking to reverse a frustrating 0-3 record in Grand Slam finals: 2020 US Open, 2024 French Open and the 2025 Australian Open
ZVEREV BACK IN THE ROLAND-GARROS FINAL ?#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/q9Klsi0RDe
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2026
Sunday’s Final: The Ultimate Chance?
For years, Zverev has carried the heavy tag of “the best active player without a Grand Slam title.” Entering Sunday as the heavy seed and favorite, this feels like his absolute premium window to finally lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires and rebrand his career. The pressure will be on though, all eyes will be on the German and he has let himself down on the big stage before.
Two years ago in Paris, Zverev fell to Carlos Alcaraz in a deciding set. He’s been the lower-ranked player in all previous major finals but not this time.
His game has been solid on basically all shots, even the drop shots worked great today. If he serves the way he did today, he’s going to be incredibly tough to beat on the Parisian clay on Sunday.
We’ll be posting our predictions for the 2026 final on Tennisnerd shortly. More on Zverev and his racquet.
