Alexander Zverev is undeniably one of the ATP’s top players, but is lacking a few key traits to turn him into the Grand Slam champion he so desperately wants to be.
Now 28 years old, he should be entering the prime of his career, and yet, after his recent early exit from Wimbledon, he has never looked so mentally fragile.
He gave an emotional post-match interview in which he seemed lost, unsure of where to go next in his career.
However, since partnering with Toni Nadal, a visible spark has swiftly returned.
And, to make things even better for the big-serving German, Rafael Nadal has emerged as a surprise supplementary coach to help in his development.
Alexander Zverev has now revealed what it’s like to be coached by the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Alexander Zverev reveals what it’s like to be coached by Rafael Nadal
Naturally, the main topic of conversation with Zverev at the moment surrounds his coaching situation, and his rather public conquest to try and get Toni Nadal to become his permanent advisor.
Alas, thus far it has been a futile process given how busy the Spaniard is.
That’s not to suggest that they did not enjoy their brief spell together, telling the Nothing Major podcast: “I was expecting that question. I am going to give you how it is. I loved the week. I enjoyed it a lot.
“I think Toni enjoyed it as well. I spent quite a lot of time with Rafa as well, which was very nice of him to do.
“I am not sure how much you are going to see of Toni this year, because his schedule is quite packed. He is giving a lot of speeches and has a lot of things to do with the academy.
“I think starting from next year, you might see him a lot more.
Alexander Zverev picks who out of the big three he first wanted as his coach
Then asked if Nadal would have always been his first choice to coach him out of the Big Three, he admitted that was not the case.
Zverev instead claimed: “Before spending the week with Rafa and Toni in Majorca, I would probably have said Novak. Because I had the most conversations with him, and he kind of gave me a lot of advice.
“But spending the week in Majorca, the intensity that Rafa played at, that is the intensity that he coaches at. It was unbelievable.
“We had dinner and I was so thankful for that, he was unbelievable, but we had dinners until 1 am together, and in the middle of dinner he would stand up and do swinging forehands and show me what technique he wants me to improve on. It was unbelievable how into it he was.
“I was so surprised. I had played Rafa for 10 years of my career and was going to have a nice dinner, just come there and be nice to me, but he was so into it, and he came on court with me and was showing me forehands, trying to improve.
“That day he came on court with me, I played my forehand like Ernest Gulbis to be honest because I was so nervous!
“But it was phenomenal to see. I was so surprised and so thankful. That is not normal. He did not have to do that. He is Rafa Nadal, who the hell am I to him? I was so surprised!”
This comes after Zverev picked his greatest tennis player of all time, snubbing Nadal.
The advice Rafael Nadal gave to Alexander Zverev
Finally, he would enter into the specifics of what Rafa recommended to him, revealing: “He told me during the week, I don’t know how many times, that I need to be more brave. He said I need to take it on to myself in the most important moments. I know that as well, but hearing it from someone like him.
“I played him in some of the big matches, I played him at Roland Garros a few times and we had big matches. He always told me when you are aggressive, it’s so difficult to hurt you because I could always move quite well, so I could find the aggressive game from difficult positions. But it is when I hold back that I become vulnerable; it’s when I become more one-dimensional as well.”
Zverev continued: “I don’t have the serve and volley like my brother, or a good drop shot and slice like Novak. So, for me, when I become passive, that is when I am more hurtable for the top guys, and he always told me he truly believes, and I think I believe him, that he believes I can win a Grand Slam. He told me that a million times. But if I become more brave and take it on to myself to do that.”
This one-dimensional nature has been a complaint levelled at the German time and time again, but such a claim unsurprisingly holds far more weight when coming from one of the greatest players of all time.
It will be interesting to see if he adheres to that advice in the coming events.
