Alexander Zverev has spoken about his time working with Toni Nadal in Mallorca and confirmed he is “trying to convince” the legendary coach to join his team in an official capacity.
The world No 3 prepared for the North American hard-court swing by training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, where Toni Nadal works as a coach and ambassador.
A number of videos of Zverev practising in the presence of Toni Nadal were shared, sparking speculation that the German had hired Rafael Nadal’s uncle and former coach.
German newspaper Bild reported last week, though, that Nadal “turned down” an offer to travel as Zverev’s coach due to his other commitments.
As well as his role at his nephew’s academy, Nadal is the tournament director for the ATP 250 in Mallorca and works as a speaker for sport coaches, universities and companies.
In his pre-tournament press conference at the Canadian Open in Toronto, Zverev was asked about his collaboration with Toni Nadal.
“Yeah, I mean, the time in Mallorca was amazing,” said the 28-year-old. “I spent about 10 days there, and worked really hard and enjoyed it as well. I think Toni enjoyed it probably as well.
“I’m trying to convince him (smiling) to do more weeks with me, and we’ll see how it goes, but he’s a very busy man.
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“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, because he gave his word to a lot of events and a lot of speeches already.
“But we’re talking about what a potential partnership could look like, for sure, and, yeah, I can give you an update probably in a few weeks time when we know more. But, yeah, I enjoyed my time there, that’s for sure.”
Zverev also revealed that Nadal got in touch with him after his opening round defeat at Wimbledon.
“It’s funny, actually after Wimbledon he contacted me, Uncle Toni,” Zverev explained.
“I was very thankful for him to do that. We spoke on the phone for about an hour and a half, and sent a few messages back and forth, and then, yeah, decided to go to Mallorca to see him.
“But he’s a personality that I think, yeah, he’s a great coach, no question about that, but he’s a personality that I think can give you a lot of confidence as well, because when he speaks and when Rafa speaks, you listen.
“Yeah, they definitely spent a lot of hours talking to me, and they gave me some great insight. Rafa gave me some great insight of what it actually is like to play against me, because he saw me as a player, he saw me now as a spectator as well.
“It was very helpful, and again, we spent hours and hours talking, sometimes until past midnight in some dinners and stuff like that. So it was great to be there.”
Zverev will face world No 88 Adam Walton in his first match at the Masters 1000 event in Toronto, where he is the top seed.
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