Anyone But

As Alexander Zverev closes in on a near-certain French Open title, a sport that once held its breath is now sighing.

Dark clouds at Roland Garros on Tuesday. (Photo by Mark Peterson / Corleve)

PARIS, France — At a certain point, avoiding the topic any longer here felt dishonest.

Alexander Zverev is the clear favorite to win the 2026 French Open men’s singles title. Tennis Abstract has Zverev’s odds of winning the tournament at 69.1 percent. His win is not inevitable—nothing in sports is—but nor does it feel like it will be averted.

Zverev is largely the same player he has been for years, but the terrain around him has changed. The upper echelon of the ATP rankings has rarely been in weaker form than what it was this spring, with nearly all highly-ranked players either injured or performing far below their best.

Jannik Sinner, one of the few in-form top players, had been feasting on the field for months, sweeping the three ATP 1000 events on clay despite never having won any of them before. But once Sinner stumbled in Paris, this absence of formidability at the top was starkly exposed. Only two of the Top 10 and three of the Top 25 even reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.

Third-ranked Zverev, who has not won any singles tournament in over a year, emerged as the best of what’s left. He reached the quarterfinals by beating players ranked 95th, 43rd, 90th, and 106th. On Tuesday afternoon, he beat the 19-year-old Rafael Jodar in straight sets to book his spot in the semifinals.

Because Sinner went out so early—and Novak Djokovic followed him out a day later—Zverev’s clear path has been visible for days now.

I’ve written before on Bounces about how it feels like there’s a “great exhale” when Zverev exits a major tournament, first using the phrase when he made the final of the 2025 Australian Open (which was the first major I covered for Bounces).

Here’s some of what I wrote then:

It’s rarely discussed openly by most in the sport, but whether be they fans or even the various professionals working around the Australian Open in various roles, there’s a lot of glum, frustrated witnesses to his continued presence and preeminence in tennis.

I don’t think Zverev’s week-in, week-out results necessarily change much about his story or how the tennis powers-that-be failed to meet the moment repeatedly in the past several years. Even if he wins a major here, honestly, what’s done is done.

But even with the dust mostly settled in his cases, I know that his presence and preeminence has a real, painful impact for many people who do not enjoy watching him play, many of whom cannot bring themselves to ever watch his matches because of how strongly they feel about him. With Zverev in the Australian Open final, that means lots of devoted tennis fans will pass on watching a major final, and that’s just a bummer for the sport.

It’s hard to quantify how many people feel this way, of course, but I have heard from lots of them over the past few years. I even reported last year for Slate about a couple who successfully got Ticketmaster to refund their Australian Open tickets when he was scheduled for the night session they’d bought. I think all of those boycotts, feelings, preferences, and choices, whatever form they take, are entirely valid.

Zverev lost in that final to Jannik Sinner, leading to the exhale—and an unprecedented protest against Zverev during the trophy ceremony.

This time, with Zverev showing no signs of departing without a trophy, the sensation feels less like an exhale and more like a series of deep, resigned sighs.

Never before has Zverev been such a clear favorite to win a major, and certainly not holding the favorite status for a full week and counting. This slow march toward his victory has caused considerable discouragement and even despair among those who struggle to see him elevated, venerated, and celebrated in the sport. When discussing the otherwise wide-open field on social media, tennis fans have taken up a refrain of desperation: “Anyone But Zverev.”

Whether or not Zverev ever hoists a major trophy, this weekend or somewhere further down the road, what he did won’t change. But his triumph will still be meaningfully hurtful to so many tennis fans, particularly women. For so many who care about domestic violence, Zverev’s prominence and the way he’s been continually embraced within the sport make tennis appear to be an unwelcoming, and even hostile culture.

Logically, tennis results couldn’t and shouldn’t have ever been the solution to numbing that pain—and it was unfair to put that obligation on his opponents—but his reliable losses in big tournament after big tournament did help for many.

While the issues at the core of Zverev’s presence are known and unchanged, there have been a few developments in recent months which are worth mentioning.

More than four years after announcing their intention to create one, the ATP finally introduced a long-awaited safeguarding program last December. The document, which includes about a dozen references to domestic violence, is available here.

The lengthy court proceedings in Berlin between Zverev and myself (and only myself after Racquet Magazine dropped out of the case in 2024) regarding the first article from November 2020 are winding down, with no strong verdict either way and no further appeals expected. Frustratingly, despite the case essentially ending late last year, there still hasn’t been a complete conclusion provided by the court; once everything is finalized, I will share as many of the details as soon as I can, including the final balance of crowdfunding money which will be donated to House of Ruth.

Some more positive news on related fronts: Mary Carillo, who dropped out of Laver Cup coverage in 2021 because of the event’s handling of the Zverev issue, is getting inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame later this year.

And Olya Sharypova got married a few months ago, to a guy who seems lovely by all accounts.

I haven’t decided how I’ll cover what happens Sunday, if it happens. But as the first week’s heat and sunshine have been replaced by cold and rain here in Paris, I didn’t want to wait any longer to address the cloud overhead.

Thanks for reading Bounces. -Ben