Alexander Zverev spoke about a week he spent being coached by Toni Nadal and how Rafa Nadal couldn’t help himself and joined in to help the German overcome himself in a bid to finally win a Grand Slam.
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For long, Zverev has been the No. 3 player in the world, trailing both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. But the 28-year-old has now enlisted the services of Toni Nadal to cross the Grand Slam barrier. Zverev trained with Nadal senior for a week and said that next year onwards would see him take a more active role. It was during that week that Rafa Nadal joined him for dinner and then on the court to help him out as well.
“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,” Zverev said on the Nothing Major podcast.
Zverev then said that one of the key bits of advice given by Rafa was that he needed to be a bit braver in the key moments of a match. Zverev has often been accused of being one-dimensional in a Grand Slam era of Sinner and Alcaraz.
“He told me during the week, I don’t know how many times, that I need to be braver. He said I need to take it on myself in the most important moments. I know that as well, but hearing it from someone like him, said Zverev. “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.”
“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 myself to do that.”
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