For the first time in living memory, Roland Garros will crown a first-time Grand Slam men’s champion, and on Friday the four players who survived an extraordinary fortnight of upsets meet to decide who plays for it. The headline act is Alexander Zverev, the world No. 3 and the last top-10 player in the draw, against 20-year-old Czech Jakub MensÃk in the opening semifinal on Court Philippe-Chatrier, not before 2:30 p.m. CEST (8:30 a.m. EDT).
Zverev’s moment. With Jannik Sinner beaten in the second round, Novak Djokovic gone in the third and an injured Carlos Alcaraz absent altogether, the German has become the prohibitive favorite — and carries the pressure that comes with it. A three-time major finalist who was a point or two from the 2024 title here, Zverev is into his 11th Grand Slam semifinal and is chasing the breakthrough that has eluded him throughout a decorated career. He leads MensÃk 1-0 head-to-head, having won their only previous meeting on clay in the Madrid round of 16.
The challenger. MensÃk, ranked just outside the top 25, is the surprise of the men’s draw, reaching his first major semifinal on the back of wins that included a clinical dismissal of teenage talent Joao Fonseca. Big-serving, athletic and composed beyond his years, he arrives with momentum and nothing to lose — exactly the profile that has undone bigger names in Paris this fortnight.
The all-Italian semifinal
The second match, not before 7 p.m. CEST (1 p.m. EDT), is the first all-Italian men’s semifinal in Grand Slam history. Flavio Cobolli, the 10th seed who knocked out fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals, faces compatriot Matteo Arnaldi, the world No. 104 who advanced when Matteo Berrettini retired injured.
Both are first-time major semifinalists; their head-to-head is level at 1-1, with Cobolli winning the most recent meeting at Roland Garros a year ago. The result guarantees Italy a men’s finalist in Paris for the first time since 1976 — and notably, it is not the names, Sinner or Lorenzo Musetti, that anyone expected.
The stakes. Four players, none of whom has reached a major final before, two semifinals, one guaranteed first-time finalist from Italy and a German favourite with the weight of expectation on his shoulders. After a fortnight that dismantled the established order, Friday’s winners will contest Sunday’s final for a maiden Grand Slam title.
