PARIS: Alexander Zverev moved to the verge of a long-awa­ited first Grand Slam title as the second seed saw off Jakub Mensik in four sets on Friday to set up a French Open final against Flavio Cobolli.

The German will face 10th seed Cobolli on Sunday after securing a 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Mensik.

Cobolli did not even have to play his first Grand Slam semi-final, as his last-four opponent and fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi withdrew from the tournament shortly before the match due to illness.

Zverev has endured several near misses at the majors, with three previous final defeats, including against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros two years ago.

“This is a Grand Slam, it’s best of five, things are going to happen, opponents are going to play better. I managed it,” said Zverev. “I hope to play another great match on Sunday.”

Zverev will be a strong favourite when he faces Cobolli, against whom he holds a 3-1 winning record, to finally get over the line and lift a Slam trophy.

The world number three was playing in his 11th Grand Slam semi-final and his experience sho­wed against Czech youngster Mensik.

The 20-year-old, in the last four of a major for the first time, tired as the match went on as his previous exertions in Paris, including two five-set matches, took their toll.

Zverev has dealt well with the pressure of being the tournament favourite since the early exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, in the second and third rounds respectively.

He will face one last test of his mental strength on Court Philippe Chatrier in two days’ time, but should at least be fresh physically after reaching the final having only lost two sets in six matches.

“Pure emptiness, there’s absolutely nothing in my head,” insisted a smiling Zverev in his on-court interview. “We’re athletes, very few of us have anything in our heads. Sometimes it’s easier to be stupid and not to think too much.”

The 29-year-old has been within one set of victory in two of his previous three Slam finals, when facing Alcaraz in Paris in 2024 and when he blew a two-set lead against Dom­inic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.

Zverev is also aiming to end a 14-month title drought dating back to a clay-court event in Munich in April last year.

Zverev took a closely-fought first set courtesy of a break in the 11th game, having earlier saved three break points to deny Mensik a 5-3 lead.

The 26th seed could not keep pace at all in the second set, as Zverev broke twice and only dropped four points on his own serve.

Mensik called for a medical time-out just three games into the third set, appearing to struggle with a neck injury.

But he dragged himself back into the contest seemingly out of now­here, breaking to take a 4-2 lead in the third set as his use of the drop shot started to make a greater impact.

That shot wrapped up a hold to love and the set — only the second Zverev had lost in the tournament.

Mensik could not keep up his momentum, though, falling 2-0 behind in the fourth set as consecutive backhand unforced errors gifted Zverev a break.

The three-time Grand Slam runner-up powered into the final from there, despite drawing the ire of some spectators for disputing two line calls and also receiving a warning for a time violation.

Zverev wrapped up victory on his first match point as Mensik netted a backhand.

Later on Friday, world number 104 Arnaldi had spent the most amount of time on court for a player en route to a Grand Slam semi-final, winning marathon matches in the third and fourth rounds.

His quarter-final opponent Matteo Berrettini retired injured in the second set of their last-eight tie.

But Arnaldi’s dreams of a remarkable Slam title were ended by a virus.

“It’s tough — for how the tournament was, for how many hours I spent on court, I felt pretty good,” said Arnaldi. “Every time I get up I feel dizzy and not the best... so that was the right decision for me.”

Cobolli has dropped just two sets in the event so far and impressed in his quarter-final victory over Canadian fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.

“It’s tough for me to speak also. When he came to me an hour ago I almost cried,” said Cobolli of his friend Arnaldi. “At the same time I’m happy with the result this week.”

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2026