NATIONAL BANK OPEN

July 27, 2025

Alexander Zverev

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Sascha, welcome back to Toronto. How fresh do you feel before this North American summer swing?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Yeah, I took some time off. I mean, I had four weeks since my last match, which doesn't happen very often, it only happens in the off-season kind of.

I'm excited to be here, I'm excited to play again, and I think the time off in the summer was extremely important for me.

Q. You spend a week or two at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, everyone is curious to know about your potential partnership with Toni Nadal. Could you please tell us more about that, and any chance Rafa will join the team as the mentor?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: (Laughing). Yeah, I mean, he spent quite a lot of time with me actually as well, so I'm very thankful for that. Yeah, I mean, the time in Mallorca was amazing. 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. 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.

Q. Other than the success that Uncle Toni has had, and obviously the relationship he has with Rafa and that kind of insight that it can provide, what made you kind of, I don't know, knock on that door and see what possibilities could be there?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: It's funny, actually after Wimbledon he contacted me, Uncle Toni. 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.

Q. You're entered into the US Open mixed doubles with Belinda Bencic. Curious if having top singles players like yourself compete in mixed doubles, do you think your presence there could help elevate more popularity or interest from fans in doubles?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I think it's a fun event that they're trying out. I'm not the only one, I think a lot of top singles players are playing it. It's going to be interesting to see what the event will look like, and what the fan interest will look like as well.

But I'm sure if Carlos Alcaraz or Sabalenka or Sinner or Coco Gauff steps on the court, the fan interest will always be there. So it's going to be fun to be part of it, and we'll see how it goes.

Q. A lot of times the best players are always, people maybe don't see that they're always tinkering to try to find a little bit more and trying to improve, you're always practicing after matches and whatever. What are the sorts of things that you're always looking to improve? Is it just like little things to fix, new things to raise your level?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV: I mean, I think at this stage for me it's about winning, and trying to maximize what I have, and trying to maximize what I can become.

Again, I think my team, but also Toni are exceptional in that, in maximizing what a player has. Of course, he was with Rafa before, which I'm never going to compare myself to Rafa, but if he can maximize what I have, and he can maximize the potential that I have, I'm sure that I can have a lot more success in my career.