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Alexander Zverev gave his thoughts on Carlos Alcaraz's path to the 2025 French Open final after the former's third-round victory over Flavio Cobolli on Sunday, June 1. The German believed that the Spaniard was superior to his projected opponents, and that the only players who could trouble him were stacked against each other in the first half of the men's singles draw.
On Sunday, Zverev put together his most commanding performance in Paris this year, as of yet, downing World No. 26 Cobolli 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-1 in two hours and 33 minutes. During his post-match press conference, the 28-year-old was asked questions regarding his archrival Carlos Alcaraz's prospects at this year's French Open.
Alexander Zverev insisted that the defending champion was likely to reach the final from the second half of the singles draw, considering he was the most in-form player in the big tournaments leading up to the clay-court Major.
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"I honestly think Carlos will be in the final. To be very fair, I don’t think there’s anyone on that side of the draw that will challenge him too much," Alexander Zverev told the media at French Open on Sunday. "He’s the favorite, of course. Before coming into the tournament, I think everyone kind of realized that."
The third seed then inferred that the likes of himself, Jannik Sinner, and Novak Djokovic could perhaps challenge the four-time Major winner, but since only one of them could make it to the title match in Paris, that bodes well for Alcaraz's chances to win his first Slam of the year.
"All the people who can challenge him, all the contenders outside of him are on the top half of the draw," he added. "We will have to really battle it out and I’ll think he’ll enjoy watching it."
Alexander Zverev lost to Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set thriller in 2024 French Open final
Alexander Zverev was a set away from winning his maiden Major title at last year's French Open before being denied by Carlos Alcaraz in five sets. The German had gone into the final with significant odds of winning, as he had gotten the better of the Spaniard at the 2022 edition of the clay-court Major.
While Zverev didn't start in ideal fashion, dropping the opening set convincingly to the then-20-year-old, he was quick to strike back in the next two sets to eventually mount a two-sets-to-one lead within the first three hours of their bout.
Unfortunately, it is at this point that the match got away from him, as Alcaraz won the next two sets for the loss of just three games to win their 10th career encounter 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in four hour and 19 minutes.
