Good things come to those who wait, and in Alexander Zverev’s case, persevere.
The German broke into the ATP circuit in 2013 and entered his first major as a qualifier in 2015. More than a decade later, he has finally gotten the monkey off his back by capturing his first major at the 2026 French Open.
In the process, Zverev surpassed a longstanding record held by Croatian legend Goran Ivanisevic. Per OptaAce, Zverev needed 125 major match wins to capture his first career major, which is a staggering 20 more than Ivanisevic’s record.
125 – Alexander Zverev has claimed a 125th career Men’s Singles match win at Grand Slam events – the most of any player in the Open Era en route to a maiden Grand Slam title. Wait.
Ivanisevic, of course, famously won the 2001 Wimbledon during the twilight years of his career. The Croatian would retire the following year due to a shoulder injury before attempting an unsuccessful comeback in 2004.
Alexander Zverev Makes More History
Zverev, though, still has several years left in the tank. After defeating World No. 10 Flavio Cobolli in a five-set thriller on Sunday, the 29-year-old Zverev sounded like a man who was just getting started — and hungry for more major titles.
“This trophy for me is very important, because if I would have lost this one, the self-belief would have gone down a lot,” he said, via ATP Tour.
“But now that I’ve won it, I feel like I can do it again.”
Per OptaAce, Zverev made history on several more fronts on Sunday, becoming the player with the third most ATP-level titles (25) before finally capturing a major. Only Ivan Lendl (41) and Thomas Muster (29) won more titles before a maiden slam.
25 – Only two players in the Open Era have claimed more career titles at ATP-level en route to a maiden Grand Slam title than Alexander Zverev (25) – Ivan Lendl (41) and Thomas Muster (29). Quarter.
Furthermore, Zverev — who entered his first major main draw at the 2015 Wimbledon — is now ranked second on another historic list.
41 – Alexander Zverev has won a first Grand Slam title in his 41st Men’s Singles main draw – in the Open Era, only Goran Ivanisevic (48, Wimbledon 2001) has taken more main draws to claim a maiden Grand Slam title. Maiden.
Alexander Zverev Savors First Major
Zverev thanked his family and friends for always believing in him when he came up short at majors in 40 previous tries. Notably, he came painfully close at the 2020 US Open, where he fell to Dominic Thiem in the final after leading by two sets.
“Now no matter what happens, I will always be a Grand Slam champion, and nobody can take that away from me,” he said with pride.
“Maybe that does give me some freedom. Maybe my mind will just be a little bit calmer when I play in a final, meaning even if I lose it, I will still be a Grand Slam champion. This trophy for me is very important, because if I would have lost this one, the self-belief would have gone down a lot. But now that I’ve won it, I feel like I can do it again.”
“In my scenario, it really is a family effort and a team effort,” Zverev added.
“Because I’ve had the same team for 12 years, at least, with the same physical trainer, coaches even longer.
“I think everybody deserves this trophy equally.”
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