‘Rafael Nadal spoke to me for hours and hours after heartache suffered at Wimbledon'

Daily Mirror

3 days ago

Alexander Zverev faced mental health struggles after suffering an upset in the opening round at Wimbledon, after which he sought the help and support of tennis icon Rafael Nadal
Alexander Zverev has revealed he spent "hours and hours" talking to Rafael Nadal following his nightmare defeat at Wimbledon. The German tennis star, ranked third in the world, was expected to breeze past world No. 72 Arthur Rinderknech when they faced off in the first round at SW19 in late June.
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But Zverev was left stunned in a shocking five-set defeat. Despite being in top form on grass until that match, the 28-year-old suffered a 7-6(3) 6-7 6-3 6-7 6-4 loss.
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Zverev has since spoken about the mental toll the loss took on him, leading to the worst period of his career and prompting him to take a four-week hiatus from competitive tennis.
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He made his comeback at the Toronto Open, reaching the semi-finals before losing to Karen Khachanov on Wednesday.
It was only after a training camp with Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal, that he managed to get back on the right track.
Zverev has now opened up about the 10 days he spent in Mallorca, where he had lengthy discussions with the pair while picking their brains, sometimes into the early hours of the morning.
Zverev said at his press conference: 'It was amazing. I spent about 10 days there, worked really hard and enjoyed it as well. I think Toni enjoyed it as well. I'm trying to convince him to do more weeks with me; we'll see how it goes, but he's a very busy man.'
The tennis star opened up on how he ended up at Nadal's renowned academy centre, saying: 'Uncle Toni contacted me after Wimbledon. I was very thankful for that.
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"We spoke on the phone for about an hour and a half, exchanged some messages, and then I decided to go to Mallorca to see him.
'He's a great coach, no doubt, but he's also someone who can give you a lot of confidence because when he speaks – and when Rafa speaks – you listen. They spent many hours talking to me and gave me a great perspective.'
He continued: 'Rafa gave me a great perspective on what it's really like to play against me because he saw me as a player and now has seen me as a spectator. It was very helpful.
'Again, we spent hours and hours talking, sometimes until after midnight, at dinners and things like that. So it was great to be there.'
Nadal and Zverev are former rivals, with the Spaniard boasting a 7-4 record over the German in head-to-heads before his retirement. Despite that respectable record, Zeverev has still not won a Grand Slam.
He has reached three finals, with his latest attempt ending in defeat to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open earlier this year.