Zverev on Playing with Pressure as RG Favorite

By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, May 31, 2026
Photo credit: Dan Istitene/Getty

Alexander Zverev has endured ecstasy and agony on Roland Garros’ red clay.

The question is: How will the second-seeded Zverev shoulder the stress of opportunity?

Overcoming some early jitters, Zverev overwhelmed lucky loser Jesper de Jong 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-1 to power into his eighth Roland Garros quarterfinal.

Two years ago, Zverev pushed Carlos Alcaraz to five sets in a frenetic French Open final. Now, Zverev is three wins from a maiden major championship and the shot to shirk his label as best player yet to win a Grand Slam singles title.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist says he’s excited by the opportunity in a wide-open field that will see a first-time Grand Slam champion crowned in one week’s time.

“Look, I’m here, I’m feeling confident with my game. I thought I handled the situations well the first week, even when I was losing a set,” Zverev said. “Like the last match, I came back and played well.

“Today I was down a break early on. Came back and played well. I feel like I’m handling the situations quite well, and I will do everything possible to continue doing that.”

The 29-year-old Zverev is into his sixth straight Roland Garros quarterfinal where he will square off against the man many regard as the second favorite to take the title Rafael Jodar.

In an all-Spanish clash, the 19-year-old Jodar rallied from two sets down defeating 34-year-old Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in a three hour, 41-minute battle.

It will be the first meeting between Zverev and Jodar.

“I watched him throughout the clay court season quite a bit. I didn’t watch him this tournament because we were always playing the same day, and time-wise it was difficult to watch,” Zverev said. “But he’s somebody that can accelerate the ball from both sides, which is incredibly special.

“I think, yeah, he’s a very aggressive player. He’s very young. He has tremendous talent. Again, I’m looking forward to our first meeting together.”

Zverev has come close to major breakthrough in the City of Light in recent years. Two years before he was runner-up to Alcaraz, Zverev and Rafael Nadal elevated Paris in first-set ecstasy in the 2022 semifinals.

A horrific ankle injury abruptly ended that semifinal with Zverev in agony. King of Clay Nadal advanced to his 14^th Roland Garros final after Zverev crashed to the court suffering a gruesome right ankle injury that forced him to retire with Nadal leading 7-6(8), 6-6.

These days, Zverev says he’s a more complete, and a more offensive player, than he was in recent years.

“One thing was the opportunity to take more chances, take more risk,” Zverev said of his goal of sharpening his aggression. “I think ball speed was another one, to keep the ball speed up a little bit more on the groundstrokes. Different varieties, different changes like the dropshot, like serve and volley sometimes, all those things to just give a different perspective to the opponent.”