Alexander Zverev can finally call himself a Grand Slam champion. But he has no intention of resting.
After his emotional triumph in Paris, Alexander Zverev dove right into a marathon of celebrations. “To be honest, I’m already a little drunk, so I might be repeating myself a bit more than usual,” joked the newly crowned Grand Slam champion: “I’m just happy to be sitting next to this trophy.”
Before enjoying a drink or two, Zverev had prevailed in a dramatic French Open final, defeating Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, and finally winning his first title at one of the four major tennis tournaments.
The Hamburg native thus not only secured the first German Grand Slam victory in men’s singles since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open, but also marked the first title win by a German player at the Bois de Boulogne since Henner Henkel in 1937.
Zverev: A Victory for Self-Confidence
“No matter what happens now, I will always be a Grand Slam champion, and no one can take that away from me,” said Zverev: “This title definitely boosts my self-confidence a lot.” His first major title gives him “a certain freedom. It makes me feel that I might be a little more relaxed when I play a final—meaning that even if I lose, I’m still a Grand Slam winner.”
The title is very important to him, “because if I had lost that match, my confidence would have taken a big hit,” said Zverev, who had played the fourth Grand Slam final of his career against Cobolli and pushed himself to his physical limits in the process. But after the victory, he has “the feeling that I can do it again.”
The next opportunity is already just around the corner: the action continues at the end of June with the grass-court classic Wimbledon. On Church Road, Zverev has always been eliminated by the round of 16 at the latest. But after the hoped-for happy ending in France, more seems possible on the island as well.
“I want to keep going. I hope that something has clicked mentally for me. It’s really something special to be sitting here with a trophy like this,” said Zverev: “Of course, I’d like to win a few more of them. I do believe that this has been a very important moment for me.”
