“I’m trying to convince him” – Alexander Zverev gets honest about potential coaching partnership with Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni

Alexander Zverev detailed his experience with Rafael Nadal’s uncle and long-time coach, Toni Nadal, following Wimbledon. Zverev spent more than a week in Mallorca with the Spaniard before touching down in Canada for the National Bank Open, hinting at a potential team-up.

Alexander Zverev, the three-time Grand Slam finalist and former World No. 2, began his 2025 season dominantly, advancing to the Australian Open finals but failing to claim the title. He reached the Madrid Open Round of 16, but received a code violation for capturing a ball-mark after a Hawk-Eye call he misunderstood. The German took his title chances at the French Open but succumbed to Novak Djokovic in a four-setter.

His Wimbledon campaign was also cut short, but on his return, he received a message from the legendary Rafael Nadal’s uncle and coach, Toni Nadal. Following a conversation over the phone, the German visited Mallorca and spent 10 days with the Spaniard, training and gaining insights.

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“I went there, I saw him and it was an amazing 10 days. I really enjoyed it and I’m very thankful to him and to Rafa also for welcoming me the way I did. It was really nice.”The time in Mallorca was amazing. I'm trying to convince him to do more weeks with me, and we'll see how it goes, but he's a very busy man. Also he has a lot of dates that he already committed to this year, so I'm not sure how much of him you'll see this year," Zverev shared.

Zverev also talked about a potential partnership with coach Toni, but nothing has been confirmed yet. The German is still coached by his father, Alexander Senior, after brief times with David Ferrer, Ivan Lendl, and Carlos Ferrero.

Alexander Zverev laid bare his mental health struggles after he lost in the Wimbledon opening round

In a press conference after his grass-court major heartbreak, Zverev emotionally stated that his mental health has not been in the right place. He has been consumed by loneliness since the Australian Open this year and failed to find his best form on the court.

"I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle. Mentally, I’ve been saying that I’ve struggled since after the Australian Open. Just don’t know. Trying to find ways to get out of this hole. I keep finding myself back in it. I feel generally speaking quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice," he said.

Alexander Zverev was the men's singles champion at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the first German to achieve such a feat.

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About the author

Agnijeeta Majumder

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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