Tennis

June 07, 2026

The 29-year-old German beat his fellow HEAD ambassador Flavio Cobolli on Sunday in Paris, sealing victory in his fourth Grand Slam final. Zverev came within two points of winning the US Open in 2020, and was runner-up in Paris two years ago and at last year’s Australian Open.

Now he has won one of tennis’s top prizes, to go with the Olympic gold medal he captured in 2021, at the end of a tournament which saw those who reached the latter stages survive eight days of intense heat at the start.

It completes a remarkable recovery for Zverev, who suffered a horrific ankle injury in a marathon semi-final on the same Paris clay court in 2022. He was forced to miss the rest of that year, and rose to a career-high second in the world rankings while he underwent surgery in hospital. But he devoted the whole of 2023 to regaining his place in the top 10, and has been in the world’s top four for most of the past two-and-a-half years.

With the tournament reaching the end of its first week, a lot of focus fell on what a golden opportunity this was for Zverev to win his first major. But the German refused to take the bait, saying he was simply focusing on his next match. He ended the breakout run of another HEAD player, Rafael Jodar in the quarter-finals, but said afterwards, "I don’t care if I’m the favourite or not. I focus on the next match. That’s the only thing I can control. It’s quite simple – I just need to play well. I have to trust my game. If I play well, then that’s 99 per cent of the work."

"Alexander Zverev stands as a by-word for patience and hard work," said Ottmar Barbian, executive vice-president of HEAD’s racquet sports division. "There were unrealistic expectations on him after his junior successes, but he has never given up, and has become stronger through dealing with a series of setbacks. His determination is an example to young players who want to do well in tennis. We are so proud of being Sascha´s partners in his journey."

Despite capturing several titles on the ATP Tour while still a teenager, Zverev took a while to master the best-of-five sets format that these days is only used in the four Grand Slam tournaments. He was 22 when he reached his first major semi-final at the 2020 Australian Open, he then reached the final at the US Open played behind closed doors at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. He has also won the ATP Finals twice.

Zverev endorses the HEAD Gravity range of racquets, and helped shape the new Gravity that came out in 2019.