Alexander Zverev Explains Why Europeans in the Men’s Circuit Dominate the French Open

South American players have often admitted that they grew up playing on clay in their home countries but they have found it hard to win the French Open in over two decades. Europeans have dominated the men’s singles of the tournament, winning the last 15 editions consecutively. Alexander Zverev has explained why that has been so.

The South American swing is played in February and despite being a hard court period on tour, the tournaments in the continent take pride in hosting their matches on clay. Several legends including Rafael Nadal and top player Carlos Alcaraz have participated in the swing and claimed the title.

The last South American to win the French Open was Gastón Gaudio, who defeated his fellow compatriot Guillermo Coria in a five-set thriller to win the match. Before that year, the South Americans had won the Roland Garros three times in seven years. Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten won it in 1997, 2000, and 2001.

But since the arrival of Nadal at the Roland Garros, Europeans have dominated the Roland Garros. Nadal won it 14 times in his career, while Novak Djokovic thrice, Carlos Alcaraz twice, and then Roger Federer once. The last South American to reach the semi-finals of the tournament was Diego Schwartzman in 2020.

Zverev himself has reached at least the quarter-finals of the last three editions of the French Open. He finished as runner-up in 2024 after losing to Alcaraz in five sets. He continued his good record at the tournament by beating local player Benjamin Bonzi in straight sets. After the victory, he explained why Europeans have dominated the French Open in the last two decades on tour:

That’s why Europeans are probably better on clay than Americans or Australians. Because that’s what we grew up on, it’s the more natural move for us. That’s how we move on a tennis court. We move through sliding. We move through the slippery surface better because we’re used to it. As a kid, nobody can really teach you how to slide. You do it instinctively at some point and naturally at some point. If you grew up on the surface and you learned how to do it…

Zverev reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year before losing to Novak Djokovic. The German star has the opportunity to reach the final of the event in this year’s edition as he’s the second seed. Also, he could go on to win the tournament as defending champion Alcaraz is not competing due to injury.

Alexander Zverev aims to build on opening round win at Roland Garros

Alexander Zverev arrived at the Roland Garros with some physical issues that had prevented him from competing at the Hamburg Open last week. However, against Benjamin Bonzi, Zverev showed no sign of physical strain he breezed past the Frenchman 6-3, 6-4, 7-2 to reach the second round of the event.

The victory takes Zverev’s record at the Roland to 39-10, a 79 percent winning rate. Should he dream of winning a Grand Slam event, it has to be the French Open, where he has been largely consistent in the past four seasons. During his post-match press conference, he admitted that he’s looking forward to building on his opening victory:

Very good start to the tournament. It’s always nice to start with a straight-sets win, especially against Benjamin, who can cause a lot of problems to top players. All around, I think a good performance that I can build on. I have to build on it, but very happy with the start.

Zverev will face Tomas Machac in the second round of the tournament. Machac delivered an impressive win over Zizou Bergs in the opening round. Zverev is expected to reach the round of 16 before he begins to face difficult opponents and he has reached at least the fourth round of each of the last eight editions of the French Open.

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