Mental problems
Zverev wears T-shirt with a meaningful message
07/15/2025 – 05:51 a.m.Reading time: 3 min.
After the great disappointment of Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev does not seem to shy away from changes in the environment. His outfit provides speculation.
Alexander Zverev knew that these pictures would become public – after all, several people sat on the edge of the course and filmed. He also allowed photos. Therefore, the inscription on the white T-shirt that the German tennis Olympic champion wore during his training session at Rafa Nadal Academy on Mallorca can be understood as a conscious message: “I like tennis”-I like tennis.
At least on the square, his current mental problems do not seem to be justified, so Zverev had tried to explain it after his first round in Wimbledon. “At the moment it is difficult to find joy outside the tennis court,” said Zverev. And: “At the moment I feel pretty alone in life.”
Immediately after the defeat against the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, Zverev had given a remarkable commitment. He is currently in a “hole” and has not yet known how he comes out. “It is not a feeling on the tennis court, it is a fundamental feeling in my life. I’ve never felt that way,” Zverev said in a quiet voice at the press conference in front of journalists: “It is difficult for me to find joy outside of the tennis court.”
It is not known whether he has done something to deal with his mental problems. Nevertheless, he seems to want to break new ground. The fact that the Nadal Academy posted the photos and videos of its training on Monday on Instagram can be understood as an indication in this direction: the public is sought. Zverev trained together with the Spanish young player Matteo Morazzi, and behind him was Toni Nadal – the uncle and long -time coach of the resigned Spanish superstar.
Zverev had spoken openly about mental problems in Wimbledon. He also announced a week -long break and canceled his planned participation in the tournament in Gstaad, which is currently running.
The Tokyo Olympic champion has been trained by his father Alexander so far. Again and again he had consulted more coaches in the course of his career. These include Juan Carlos Ferrero, Ivan Lendl, Sergi Bruguera and David Ferrer. It is open whether he just wants to get an impulse – or whether he plans to work with the Nadals in the long term. At the request of the SID news agency, Toni Nadal and Zverev’s management did not comment on this.
The dpa news agency, on the other hand, reported that Zverev is aiming for a change in the coaching team. According to this, Zverev is to be trained by the Spaniard Nadal in the future, whose nephew and 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner Rafael Nadal could also take on a mentoring role, wrote Sky commentator Paul Häuser at the platform X.
So far, Zverev has mainly been trained by his father Alexander Zverev Senior. As a manager and guide, his brother Mischa is always close to his side. “The father and the brother did it excellently, but it wasn’t good enough for the last step,” Tennis icon Boris Becker criticized: “You have the impression that he plays against the top players in the same leader and hopes that the result will be good.”
Becker had recently recommended changes in the area and on the coaching position to the Olympic champion of 2021 – which had caused upset with Hamburg. “I think if it goes well for me, I always do everything right. And if things go badly, everyone is always very, very smart. Unfortunately, Boris is part of it,” criticized the 28-year-old in Stuttgart.
Zverev had canceled for the ATP tournament in Gstaad in Switzerland. “For personal reasons”, as the tournament organizers had announced. Previously, the world ranking third had announced that it would freeze for a few weeks and hope to be able to provide further answers at the Masters 1000 tournament in the Canadian Toronto at the end of July.