At 23 years of age, Alexander Zverev already has rather comprehensive experience on tour. The German has already won 3 ATP1000 and the 1 edition of the ATP Final. However, like all the other players, Zverev had also to face profound disappointments every now and then.
During a recent video chat with basketball player Dirk Nowitzki, Sascha admitted that once he was absolutely devastated after losing an impossible match against Rafael Nadal.
“I had a match point and I had a volley about two or three yards from the net. A high volley on the forehand. I had to put it away and I missed it. I think it was 5-3, 40-30 my serve. And I didn’t win a single point after that,” said Sascha.
That day, the world no.7 managed to find himself in a commanding position even if he lost the second set 6-0. However, missing such an easy volley on match point was horrible for him also because it would have been his first top-10 scalp and that would have been the great Rafael Nadal.
“I was 18 and didn’t have a top 10 win at that time and Rafa would have been my first top 10. I went home and was devastated, I was done,” Zverev added.
Alexander Zverev in 2020
At the moment ranked no.7, the German played his last match on the 26th of February when he lost to Tommy Paul 6-3 6-4 in the 2nd round in Acapulco.
Alexander Zverev’s most significant performance of the current year was reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal in 2020
Ranked no.2, Nadal played his last match on the 29th of February when he beat Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-2 in the final in Acapulco to win his 85th career title.
This season the Spaniard has a 13-3 win-loss record. Rafael conquered 1 title in Acapulco.
Alexander Zverev and Rafael Nadal played each other 6 times. The head to head is 5-1 for Nadal. The last time that they played, Alexander Zverev won 6-2 6-4 in the round robin in London (Nitto ATP Finals) in November 2019.
