So while this Roland-Garros in Paris will be remembered as unique and unpredictable, with top seeds falling, often quite dramatically, almost from the first, both finals saw the favorites rising to the challenge to win.
That said, they played out very differently. The women's final was quick and decisive, while the Men's French Open final was a long, marathon session that saw the eventual winner only emerge in the fifth and deciding set.
In the women's final, 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva blasted past Polish qualifier Maja Chwalińska to win the first Grand Slam title of her career. She is also the youngest Roland-Garros champ since Monica Seles back in the early 1990's. Also, Andreeva is the third-youngest Grand Slam champion this century, with only Maria Sharapova in the 2004 Wimbledon and Emma Raducanu in the 2021 US Open having been younger when they won their first career Grand Slam titles.
Andreeva came in as the solid favorite. So of course, some people figured that probably put her in danger in the final, right. But she hardly looked too nervous or vulnerable. In fact, Andreeva left no room for doubt, utterly dominating her way to a decisive and quick 6-3, 6-2 win on Saturday at Roland-Garros. Chwalińska has stunned many players on the way to this final, but she simply was no match for Andreeva's power on this weekend.
On the men's side, the final was much more competitive. Also, there were more questions, and more room for doubt, both before and after the actual match.
German Alexander Zverev had been one of the very few top seeds to survive to the later rounds. In fact, he was pretty much the only top seed on the men's side to make it past the quarters. As the second seed on the men's side, he got through a draw which suddenly opened up after both Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic fell in early round action. That presented Zverev with the best shot at winning a Grand Slam title, no longer facing the risk of having to go up against one of the biggest names in tennis.
However, he faced rising Italian star Flavio Cobelli, who entered as the 10th seed overall. Cobelli himself has had a breakthrough kind of a tournament, beating some top seeds en route to advancing past the semifinal against fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi in a walkover, after Arnaldi fell very sick and weak on the morning that the semifinal match was set to take place.
One way or the other, there would be an entirely new, first time Grand Slam champion for the men. However, Zverev was the clear favorite and much bigger name, having been one of the top players for years now. He had won some important distinctions, including Olympic Gold in 2020 (technically 2021), the Tour Finals in both 2018 and 2021, as well as having reached three previous Grand Slam finals. He also has been ranked as high as number two in the world, and is currently the world number three.
So he had some important achievements and was no stranger to Grand Slam Finals appearances. Yet, he had lost each of those prior three appearances (the 2020 US Open, the 2024 French Open, and the 2025 Australian Open).
Still, he had been knocking on the door. This presented his best shot to actually win. Many felt that if he did not win the whole thing here and now, then the 29-year-old Zverev might never actually win a Grand Slam title.
In the end, Zverev did finally win his first Grand Slam title. However, it was a struggle.
Zverev raced out to a hot start early on, but ultimately had to endure a tough and long five sets to finally win, which he did 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-1.
By winning the Men's Final on Sunday, Zverev was able to get the monkey off his back by winning the one thing that had eluded his career to this point: winning a career Grand Slam title. He finally successfully converted on his fourth try at a Grand Slam final. Alexander Zverev has finally won a Grand Slam title, and is now the 2026 French Open Men's champion.
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