Alexander Zverev admits he went to see Rafael Nadal hoping he would get valuable advice that would help him in his bid to beat Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, and ultimately achieve his Grand Slam dream.
The first thing that Zverev did following his Wimbledon first-round exit and a candid mental health revelation was to take a break from tennis. After taking some time for himself, the three-time Grand Slam finalist figured out to visit the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca and spend some time with Rafa and Uncle Toni. While Uncle Toni couldn't accept the world No. 3's request to be his new full-time coach, the 64-year-old gladly helped the German and made himself available for advice whenever he needed one.
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It's about finding ways to beat the best players in the world, right? It's about finding the right patterns, the right training to do that. That's why I went to see Uncle Toni and Rafa, because I wanted to see and then hear a new vision of what tennis in their mind looks like and [what] my tennis in their mind looks like," Zverev explained at the US Open.
Zverev: Nadal can give me the best advice anybody else can
In one of his interviews from earlier this year, Nadal said that Zverev had the game to be a Grand Slam winner but that his mindset probably wasn't where it needed to be.
Rafa, for example, he played against me for ten years. So now, as a spectator and also as an opponent, he can probably give the best advice anybody else can, because he knows what it's like to be on the court with me," the German added.
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In the same interview, Zverev - who was beaten by Alcaraz in last year's French Open final and also lost to Sinner in this year's Australian Open final - admitted that the Spaniard and the Italian are better than him in certain parts. However, he also added that he believes he is better than Alcaraz and Sinner in some other parts.
