Alexander Zverev is now well and truly in pole position to claim a maiden Grand Slam title that has eluded him his entire career.
Following Jannik Sinner’s exit from Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic also crashed out of the tournament on Friday, losing to Joao Fonseca in a thrilling five-set clash.
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With no Carlos Alcaraz in Paris due to injury, second seed Zverev has become the new favourite to win the French Open.
The German has come agonisingly close to hoisting a major trophy before, having reached three Grand Slam finals over the years.
But with several top players out of Roland Garros in the early stages, this is arguably Zverev’s best shot ever at achieving the feat.
Alexander Zverev speaks after Novak Djokovic’s exit from Roland Garros
But Zverev is not counting his chickens just yet, and is solely focused on his next match against lucky loser Jesper de Jong.
As per Tennis Actu TV, Zverev said: “I need to focus on the things that I can influence. These are my matches.
“As I said before, I’m playing Jesper de Jong next. He’s playing incredibly good tennis here, and that’s my focus.
“It reminds me a bit of the 2017 US Open when Andy Murray was injured. The top players all lost very early. I also lost early there myself, meaning I wasn’t really a part of the tournament.
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“But yeah, let’s see. As I said before, I can only influence the things I can control, and those are my matches.”
Reacting to Djokovic’s loss, Zverev said: “It doesn’t change much. I would only have been able to play him in the semifinals, so first I have to get there, and I have to win my matches.
“It does not affect my next round, nor does it affect the round after that. I have to do my job.”
Alexander Zverev’s potential path to the Roland Garros final
Zverev has hardly put a foot wrong at Roland Garros so far, with straight-set wins over Benjamin Bonzi and Tomas Machac, as well as a four-set victory over Quentin Halys.
Now he will take on De Jong, whom he has beaten in both of their previous tour-level meetings, the most recent of which came at the 2025 French Open.
Should he advance past the Dutchman, Zverev will face either Pablo Carreno Busta or 19-year-old star Rafael Jodar in the quarterfinals.
Potential semifinal opponents for Zverev include Jakub Mensik, Andrey Rublev, Joao Fonseca and Casper Ruud.
Zverev last reached the final of Roland Garros in 2024, when he was beaten by Alcaraz.
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