Alexander Zverev Reflects on 10-Day Training Block at Rafael Nadal’s Academy to Prepare for US Open

Alexander Zverev was on top of the world when he clinched his career’s first Grand Slam title at the French Open with a five-set win over Flavio Cobolli. Zverev then went on to reach his career’s first Wimbledon final.

Sascha lost the final to defending champion Jannik Sinner. Before this season, forget reaching the final, Zverev had never advanced past the fourth round at SW19.

Following a short break after Wimbledon, Zverev got back to work. He headed to Mallorca for a 10-day training block at Rafael Nadal‘s academy to prepare for the North American hardcourt swing. Zverev trained under Toni Nadal as well as the 22-time Grand Slam champion himself.

It has been a good year. Of course, the year is not over, and we’re going to the North American Swing and two Masters and a Grand Slam coming up, which is very important. Of course, I’m here [at the Rafael Nadal Academy] to prepare for that, and hopefully I’ll show my best there as well. I love Mallorca in general, so it’s just a great island to be in, I think, in the summer, especially with great preparation.

Alexander Zverev said in a video shared by Rafa Nadal Academy’s Instagram

Zverev has won both the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters once. Back in 2017, he lifted his career’s second Masters 1000 title in Canada by beating Roger Federer. Then in 2021, he went past Andrey Rublev in the Cincinnati Masters final.

Uncle Toni is on the court quite a lot with us. Rafa also came twice. It’s great to hear what their opinion is about my game. I think I’ve been playing against Rafa for 10 years, so it’s nice to hear from him from a competitive standpoint, but also what he thinks I can improve in my game, and I still want to improve every single day. I think it was a great help to have him on the court.

Alexander Zverev added

Following two Masters 1000s, the 29-year-old will be bidding to win his career’s first US Open title. He is a former runner-up in the tournament, reaching the final in 2020 but losing the match to Dominic Thiem.

Alexander Zverev says he enjoys playing against Carlos Alcaraz

Alexander Zverev prefers playing against Carlos Alcaraz rather than Jannik Sinner, who has defeated the German in their last 10 matches and holds a 11-4 head-to-head lead. During an interview with Knossi, the reigning French Open champion explained why he enjoys playing against the seven-time Grand Slam champion.

I enjoy playing against Alcaraz a lot. Sometimes I lose, sometimes I win, but with him, the matches are always incredible. We always have incredible matches, tough battles, like this year in Australia, where we played for 5 hours and 30 minutes, and in the end, I lost, but it is very fun to play against him.

Zverev trails 6-7 in the head-to-head matchups versus the Spaniard, also losing their last two matches. Alcaraz skipped both the French Open and Wimbledon due to his wrist injury.

But he is now gearing up for the Cincinnati Masters, which starts on August 13. Alcaraz was last seen in action in the first round of the Barcelona Open. Zverev’s win at the French Open broke the Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly as the World No.1 and the World No.3 won every Major in 2024 and 2025, with the former World No.1 also winning this year’s Australian Open.

Alcaraz will be competing as the defending champion in both the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open. Sinner handed him the walkover in the former event and lost in the final at the New York Slam.

Also read: Kim Clijsters Shares Her Take on Jannik Sinner’s Decision to Skip Canadian Open: “Something’s Going on Behind the Scenes”