Legendary coach reveals reason Alexander Zverev has not won a Grand Slam title
Toni Nadal has argued Alexander Zverev’s mentality is the reason he has failed to win a Grand Slam title so far in his career.
The legendary coach highlighted what he feels was a pivotal moment in Zverev’s defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open final.
Zverev was beaten 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 by Alcaraz in the Roland Garros championship match last week to fall to his second five-set defeat in a Grand Slam final.
The world No 4 overturned a 2-5 deficit in the third set to win it 7-5, shifting the momentum in his favour and putting him in a strong position at two sets to one up.
Zverev won just three more games, though, as Alcaraz dominated the fourth and fifth sets to surge to his third Major title. The 27-year-old converted just one of the nine break points he created on the Spaniard’s serve in the final two sets.
This was Zverev’s second appearance in a Grand Slam final after he lost to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 US Open title match having led 2-0 in sets. Against Thiem, Zverev failed to serve for the championship at 5-3 in the final set, before losing the match tiebreak.
The German is considered one of the best players not to win a Major title, given he is a two-time ATP Finals champion, a six-time Masters 1000 winner, and the reigning Olympic champion.
In his column for El Pais reflecting on the French Open final, Toni Nadal pointed to the way the fourth set slipped away from Zverev, while hailing Alcaraz’s composure.
“At the second point of the first game in the fourth set, after the big comeback of the previous set and having taken a 0–15 lead, Alexander made a trivial error and turned angrily towards his box to complain,” Nadal wrote.
“Fifteen minutes later, in the blink of an eye, the Spaniard was already leading 4–0 in this important set.
“If Zverev has failed to win a Grand Slam tournament so far, it is surely because he has not been able to control these situations like at the start of the fourth set against Alcaraz.
“Carlos faced him in the fourth set after a painful comeback without losing his composure, his conviction and his faith in victory. Something that is only within the reach of great champions. My most sincere congratulations.”
Toni Nadal coached his nephew Rafael Nadal from his childhood until 2017, helping him win 16 of his 22 Grand Slam titles. He is the director of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca.
