Alexander Zverev insists he would be “more than happy” to run through both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz en route to a US Open crown, revealing that a stint with Toni and Rafael Nadal has given him a “new vision” for his game.
The German’s 2025 season has been something of a stop-start affair. He began the year brightly by reaching the Australian Open final—only to fall to Sinner—but has since failed to push beyond ATP 500 events. Wimbledon brought the sting of an early exit to Arthur Rinderknech, Toronto ended with a narrow loss to Karen Khachanov, and his Cincinnati campaign fizzled when fatigue crept in against Alcaraz.
Yet despite the mixed results, Zverev sounded anything but tentative when asked about the challenge of facing the sport’s current top two. “I would be more than happy to play Jannik in the semis and Carlos in the finals here. I would be very, very happy to do that,” he said at his pre-tournament press conference.
He went further, framing the daunting prospect as a necessary test: “If I achieve my dream, if I achieve the goal that I set for myself in lifting the trophy above my head, then I know that I really deserve it, because I went through the most difficult path that there can be at the moment. So that’s totally fine.
“I want to win a Grand Slam and I want to win the biggest tournaments in the world by beating the best players in the world.
“Of course, if all of a sudden they lose first round and second round and I’m playing, I don’t know, the world No. 50 in the final, I will sign that paper right now, don’t get me wrong.
“But still, if you beat the best players in the world to win a Grand Slam, you deserve it. That’s my mindset, and that’s how I think about things.”
That competitive mindset has already seen Zverev make a solid imprint in New York. Over the past four years, he has never fallen before the quarter-finals, and his closest brush with glory came in 2020 when he led Dominic Thiem by two sets and a break before being edged out in a dramatic fifth-set tiebreak.
This year, his path begins against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, with a likely second-round clash against seasoned campaigner Roberto Bautista Agut. But beyond his immediate draw, it is Zverev’s recent visit to the Rafa Nadal Academy that has grabbed headlines.
In Mallorca, he hit with Toni Nadal and sought perspective from the man who spent more than a decade alongside Rafa, as well as from the 22-time Grand Slam champion himself. Photos of Zverev on court with “Uncle Toni” sparked speculation about a coaching partnership, though both sides quickly dismissed those rumours.
Still, Zverev admitted the sessions were about sharpening the small margins that separate the game’s very best. “I think there are certain parts of my game that still are worse than from other players,” the world No. 3 said. “I’m not going to mention them now, but I think there are certain parts of my game that Carlos and Jannik are doing better than me.
“They are showing parts of my game that I’m doing better than them, also.
“It’s about also finding ways to beat the best players in the world, right? It’s about finding the right patterns, the right training to do that. That’s why I went to see Uncle Toni and Rafa, because I wanted to see and then hear a new vision of what tennis in their mind looks like and how my tennis in their mind looks like.”
The insight from Nadal, who spent a decade battling him on tour, proved invaluable. “Rafa, for example, he played against me for 10 years. So now, as a spectator and also as an opponent, he can probably give you the best advice anybody else can, because he knows what it’s like to be on the court with me.”
Now, as Zverev braces for another fortnight at Flushing Meadows, he says the mission is simple: win seven matches, regardless of who stands in his way. “It was exactly that I was looking for, right? I’m looking forward in these two weeks that we have now to beat everybody or beat seven players in front of me. I don’t need to beat everybody, just the seven guys in front of me.
“I think in tennis everybody can always improve. It’s as simple as that.”