'I’m trying to convince him': Alexander Zverev wants more time with Uncle Toni after Mallorca camp

Alexander Zverev explained how his collaboration with Toni Nadal came about in recent weeks, amidst his preparation for the Canadian Open. The world No. 3 worked closely with Rafa Nadal's former coach, and even had the presence of the 22-time Grand Slam champion himself at a couple of his training sessions.

As Zverev seeks to find confidence to threaten the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, he decided to take a few weeks off the courts to best prepare for the hardcourt swing. The German suffered a painful first-round defeat at Wimbledon – the first time in six years he had fallen in the opening round of a major tournament.

It came as a surprise when images leaked of him training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, with none other than Uncle Toni. "The stay in Mallorca was incredible. I spent about ten days there, worked very hard, and also enjoyed it very much," Zverev commented upon his arrival in Toronto. "I think Toni enjoyed it too. I am trying to convince him to spend more weeks with me, we will see how it goes, but he is a very busy man.

"Also, he has many appointments that he has already committed to this year, so I'm not sure how much you will see him this year, because he has already given his word for many events. But we are definitely talking about what a possible collaboration could look like, and, yes, I can probably give you more information in a few weeks, when we know more. But, yes, I enjoyed my stay there, that's for sure."

Zverev explained that he decided to travel to Mallorca after receiving a call from Toni Nadal himself, with whom he spoke at length and received an invitation to join the training sessions. There, he also had the young Spanish prospect Martin Landaluce as a training partner. "It's funny, because after Wimbledon he contacted me," Zverev began regarding Toni Nadal. "I was very grateful that he did. We talked on the phone for about an hour and a half, exchanged some messages and then decided to go to Mallorca to see him."

Zverev details insights from training in Mallorca

Zverev highlighted not only the work he did with Toni Nadal but also the presence of his former rival, Rafa Nadal, in some of his training sessions. The German hopes to be able to repeat the experience with Uncle Toni, who was also the coach of Felix Auger-Aliassime until just over a year ago.

"He is a person who, in my opinion, is a great coach, without a doubt, but he is also someone who can give you a lot of confidence, because when he speaks and when Rafa speaks, you listen. Yes, they certainly spent many hours talking to me and gave me a great perspective."

"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 he also saw me as a spectator. It was very helpful and, again, we spent hours and hours talking, sometimes even past midnight at some dinners and things like that. So it was great to be there."

Zverev & Bencic team up for US Open mixed doubles debut

Zverev anticipated his participation in the US Open Mixed Doubles, where he will partner with Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, two players of the same generation who have faced each other before. "I think it's a fun event they're trying out. I'm not the only one, I think many of the top singles players are participating.

"It will be interesting to see what the event will be like and what the fan interest will be. But I am sure that if Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner or Coco Gauff step onto the court, the fan interest will always be there. So it's going to be fun to be a part of it, and we'll see how it turns out."

The duo of Bencic and Zverev have more than one thing in common. Both 28-year-old players won the gold medal at Tokyo 2020. They also met on the tennis court a couple of times, albeit as rivals. Both were protagonists in the Hopman Cup 2018 and 2019, facing each other in the mixed doubles final for the title.

While Bencic partnered with 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer for Switzerland, Zverev teamed up with former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber. In the 2018 singles matches, experience prevailed: Federer opened with a victory over Zverev, and then Kerber leveled by defeating Bencic. In the mixed doubles, it was the Swiss who ended up taking the title.

A year later, things didn't change much. Germany and Switzerland faced each other again, and once again Federer and Kerber gave their respective countries victories to send the title definition to mixed doubles. This time, everything came down to a third-set tie-break to the first team to reach 5 points, where the Swiss agonisingly ended up taking the title [4-0, 1-4, 4-3[5-4]).