On June 7, 2026, Alexander Zverev won his maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, but it wasn’t a shot or a celebration on center court that went viral. On the clay, it was a tiny puppy. After the trophy ceremony, Mischka, one of his and Sophia Thomalla’s miniature dachshunds, was brought onto the court. The sight of one of tennis’s most formidable players bending down to greet a tiny sausage dog in Paris’s golden afternoon light revealed something about the life behind the ranking.
Alexander Zverev does really have a girlfriend. For almost six years, he has had the same one. Long before she made appearances in Zverev’s box at significant competitions, Sophia Thomalla, a German model, actress, and television host, was a well-known public figure in her own right. The daughter of actors Simone Thomalla and André Vetters, she was born in East Berlin in 1989 and established her own television career outside of her family name. She is 36 years old, has tattoos, and generally doesn’t dress to blend in with the surroundings of a tennis stadium.
Since they started dating about 2020, Thomalla has consistently shown up for Zverev’s tournament schedule. She appears at year-end tournaments, ATP 500 events, and Grand Slams. Following Zverev’s victory in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January 2025, the two were seen kissing, shaking hands, and pumping fists in a brief video shared by the tournament’s official Instagram account. The caption for the video was “Secret couple business.” It was the kind of short, candid moment that reveals more about a relationship than any interview response.
After years of near-misses, including runner-up in the 2020 US Open, runner-up at Roland Garros in 2024, and a series of deep runs that often ended just short of the trophy, Zverev’s 2026 victory at the French Open was his first Grand Slam victory. Thomalla shared a selfie on a train with the caption “Paris calling!!” after the ATP Tour revealed his triumph on her Instagram Stories. “Er hat es!!!” is German for “He did it!!!” Every time, three exclamation points are used. The response of a long-time viewer of this specific story.
In general, Zverev has discussed the need of maintaining solid interpersonal relationships when touring. In one interview, he stated, “I think for tennis players it is always very important who you have next to you.” That’s a rather cautious way of saying it, but it’s consistent with how he and Thomalla conduct their relationship in public: they are both present at tournaments, noticeable in the stands, and not too open about specifics. The dogs are posted. Reactions to the match are posted. The visual record is mostly responsible for the relationship itself.
