If Shah Rukh Khan Fans were objective, a tough question is that they are SRK fans and think Pathan was a great film, they will admit that Om Shanti Om was the last time King Khan was at the top of his game. The film was both a Bollywood classic and a revolutionary in that it was the first crossover of Bollywood stars long before the Avengers existed and even predicted Des to take over five disco cities. who has two). In the film, Shah Rukh Khan’s character states: “They say if you wish for something with all your heart, the entire universe tries to bring it to you”. It’s the same philosophical leitmotif from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist: “When you want something, the universe conspires to make you get it.”And the universe finally conspired to give Alexander Xavier his first Grand Slam title as he triumphed over Flavio Cobolli in 2026. French Open.Zverev’s nickname is Sascha, a diminutive of the Russian word for Alexander, and he must have wondered if he was suffering from some sort of reverse name omen. During his reign, Alexander conquered a large portion of the land area known to the ancient Greeks, which was still only 3-4% of the world’s actual land mass, and supposedly lamented that there was no land left to conquer. His namesake, on the other hand, had another reason to cry: his failure to conquer the one area that had defeated him, a Grand Slam.
Of course, any footnote on major singles titles needs a star the size of Jupiter. The kids of the 90s were the ones who had to go from the analog to the digital world, from landlines to smartphones. Tennis players born in the 90s, on the other hand, first had to navigate the 80s era of Federer-Nadal-Djokovic dominance, before taking on the monster-born Carlos Alcaraz and Janic Sinner.Between the five of them, they won 77 of the 93 men’s Grand Slam titles from 2003 to 2026, including the French Open. From 2003 to 2026 there have been only 17 different winners of the French Open. Previously there were 99 Grand Slam titles from 1978 to 2002, which produced 31 major winners.Five of those 17 winners were Messrs. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sner. And Zverev is ranked 17th. In other words, becoming a new male Slam winner in this era is less a career milestone and more a violation of civilized community.
Only three men born in the 90s have won Grand Slam singles titles: Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev and Zverev.Zverev, unlike Harvey Specter from Suits, isn’t a natural closer, so the universe had to conspire to help him get closer.Stumbles like Zverev’s, where talent and fate elude their placement, only come in Grand Slams. He has won at every other level: winning the Masters 1000 event and twice in the ATP Finals. He won an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020. But the Grand Slam still eluded him.How I Met Your Mother, Ted Mosby’s love life depends on the signs of the universe. And there were plenty of signs from the universe that this was Xavier’s year. First Carlos Alcaraz was missing due to injury. Alcaraz, famously, defeated Xavier in the final of the 2024 French Open.Then Jannik Sinner, who was the favorite to win at a canter even if he played with one arm tied behind his back, fell to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round, falling like Lucifer doing his will in heaven after two set-ups.Finally, Novak Djokovic, the man who broke the Federer-Nadal duo and has been a thorn in the side of Messrs. Alcaraz and Sinner, also had to lose.On the way to the final, it was as if Zevrio had taken Felix Felicis, the good luck potion of the Harry Potter universe, where he defeated world number 95 Benjamin Bonzi. 43 Tomas Meacock, world no. 90 Quentin Halys, World No. 106 Jasper de Jong, World no. 29 Rafael Joder and world no. 27 Jakub Minsky before world No. 14 Flavio Cobolli, the only top 25 player in his way.Of course, none of this takes away from the fact that Zevrio has won a Grand Slam. There are no fake grand slams regarding khap panchayats. But it’s like Greece winning Euro 2004: completely legitimate, historically consistent, and still mostly remembered for how strange the route felt.And yet, because it was Zverev, even the Universe had to work overtime in Paris.
He won the opening set 6-1, but his familiar problems returned. His forehead begins to falter due to a philosophical crisis that plagues him every time he returns to the finale. Koboli regrouped, Xavier double-faulted twice at 3-3 in the second set, and it began to resemble one of those curious Xavier afternoons where tennis is less game and more self-destructive.Cobolli, on the other hand, also struggled, with both men blinking at the same time, but the Italian still managed to win a fourth-set tiebreak. For a moment, it looked like Zverev was about to add another chapter to the most Zverevian of sagas: the great player who can win everything but the most important.But in the fifth set Koboli’s energy ran out and Zverev won 6-1.Perhaps it is harsh to call it a gift from the universe. But the stars certainly aligned to knock Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic and every other top-10 player out of their way. It gave him a finalist who had never been to a Grand Slam final. And in the finale, he conspired to make sure he would finally cross the line.None of this makes winning a Grand Slam any easier. This is a difficult task. The International Tennis Federation’s 2024 Global Tennis Report states that there are 106 million tennis players worldwide. Only 59 men have won Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era. Even using the current global tennis-playing population in one form or another, the odds illustrate the point: men becoming Grand Slam champions are ridiculously rare. You are much more likely to be struck by lightning in your life than to become one.
As Zverev said after winning: “I’ve had the best moments of my life on this court, I’ve had the worst moments of my life on this court. I’m lying in this corner with seven broken ligaments and two broken bones. I lost a Grand Slam final here two years ago. But now, finally, it’s a happy ending.”In Om Shanti Om, the protagonist had to take rebirth to fulfill his destiny and also needed some supernatural help. Thankfully, Zverev didn’t have to reincarnate, fulfilling his destiny in this life. But the second part of the speech is: “Our filmo ki tara, even in our life everything is a thought until the end, happy ending. And if everything doesn’t work out in the end, it’s not the end, friends. The picture is still in the rest of our life”. All is well in the end. A happy ending. And if all is not well in the end, it is not the end, my friends. The picture is still there, my friend).And for Zverev, the picture was indeed still there. And now the question remains: Was this Alcaraz a temporary stopgap in the sinful age? Or will Zverev be around for a chat next time?
