When the fullness of time was come

Today we were going to write either the story of Alexander Zverev's French Open victory, or Alexander Zverev's obituary. Fortunately for him, it is the former. In his fourth finals appearance in a major pro tennis tournament, he defeated Italian Flavio Cobolli in five sets yesterday to win his first Grand Slam championship.

Zverev never makes it look easy, and he certainly didn't this time. Cobolli, whose semi-finals opponent had forfeited due to illness, was fresh as a daisy, and persevered to beat the lanky German in a fourth-set tiebreaker. But then Zverev willed himself to a strong deciding-set win as his younger opponent wilted.

With the victory in Paris, Zverev loses the dubious distinction of being the best men's singles player without a major championship. That status probably devolves now to Gael Mönfíls, the 39-year-old Frenchman whose 22-year career as a pro is ending at the end of this year. He's won about $25 million in prize money over the years but never gotten past the semi-finals in a Grand Slam event.

Anyway, just like that, it's on to the grass courts. Wimbledon, and new drama, starts in three weeks. As in France, the Spanish man-child Carlos Alcaraz will not be playing in England, as he's still nursing an injured wrist. He's a two-time winner and last year's runner-up at the All England Club. That leaves Janik Sinner of Italy as this year's favorite, I suppose. And Novak Djokovic, who has won Wimbledon seven times, will also be on hand and not easily counted out.