"I'm just trying to learn from them a little bit": Zverev aims to use mental resilience shown by Nadal and Djokovic
ATPSunday, 03 September 2023 at 11:18
Alexander Zverev will face Jannik Sinner in the Last 16 of the 2023 US Open and has spoken of the importance that having mental resilience has.
Zverev cited Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as examples of players he wants to copy in terms of their mental fortitude mainly due to their long careers in the sport.
Nadal and Djokovic have won a combined 45 Grand Slam titles, 75 Masters 1000 trophies and a combined at the top of the world rankings for a total of 598 weeks.
He said about mental strength in his on court interview after seeing off Grigor Dimitrov to reach the latter stages in another milestone since his return from injury.
"To be honest, it's all in your mind, it's all in your head, it's all in your brain. At the end of the day, we are all physically tough, we're all trained very hard. We're all trained six to seven hours a day all season. At the end of the day, sometimes it's about who's mentally tougher," he said.
"And you know there's a certain Novak Djokovic and a certain Rafa Nadal who have been doing it for the past 20 years and that's why they both won 23 and 22 Grand Slams. And I'm just trying to learn from them a little bit," he added.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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