Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast, the final daily tennis podcast from the 2026 French Open.

This is number 18 of 18.

And boy, have we had some thrills and spills along the way.

You find us tonight on the benches or bleachers, if you're of the American persuasion, of

Court 13, over on the far side of the grounds, beyond Court Suzanne Longlen. It is 1130 at night. David Matt and I are huddled together one last

time here at Roland Garros. There are distant sounds of various rat parties drifting over from the

other side of the grounds towards Philippe Chattray. And I was casting my mind back earlier to the first

of our 18 podcasts here at Roland Garros after the draw at the orangery.

And how overwhelming a favourite Yanik Sinner was for the title here at that point.

And how the whole tournament flipped completely upside down in about a 30-hour period in the first week when first Sinna lost and then Djokovic.

Since that moment, all eyes have been on Alexander's Berrave and whether he could cope with the magnitude of finally being handed the opportunity of a lifetime to become a major champion.

And we now know that the answer is yes, he could and he did five sets and more than four

anxious hours it took him to beat Flavio Coboli today.

But he does not care how it happened.

He just cares that his name is on the trophy, finally, at the age of 29.

David, Matt, as a headline, how would you describe this final as a tennis match?

He got the job done in a torturous fashion, really.

It was hell for him on that court today.

I think it was hell for both of them, really.

They really struggled emotionally, psychologically, and then physically, to try one of them to get over the line.

Neither one of them will feel that they played particularly well.

I mean, they did in spells, certainly as Verov started incredibly well,

...