Zverev is clearly better than Djokovic and would have beat him in the AO final - Toni Nadal
- Thread starter Hitman
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MeatTornado
Talk Tennis Guru
Moral champ 10 years running
Beacon Hill
Hall of Fame
In a final, I'd give the edge to Djokovic. In a quarter or semi, I think the odds would be even.
accidental
Hall of Fame
Zverev wasn’t good enough to beat a crippled person in the semis
Backspin1183
Talk Tennis Guru
Zverev could lead by 2 sets to love, hold a championship point, and still lose from that position. Winning a Slam final is not for him.
4UTRMoutet
Hall of Fame
If he could beat Nole at ATP Finals, it isn't entirely impossible, but to say Zed is strictly better than Djokovic in any iteration is just stupid.
Zverev is clearly better than Djokovic and would have beat him in the AO final - Toni Nadal
What's clear is that Toni Nadal is oversharing. His judgements are clouded by his motivations to be heard, known and/or seen; his opinion of Zverev when comparing to Djokovic is seemingly based on one match of Zverev vs Alcaraz at AO 2026 but not on the overall view and stat that Zverev most often loses to Djokovic. If one wants to be more complete with his/her observation, he/she should not judge by one match that may be unparallel to the other matches. Me think Zverev would have issues with his own lack of versatility, dynamic, speed and fitness and then Djokovic's patience and surgical strategies.
kevin qmto
Legend
Toni saw Mats Wilander regularly embarrassing himself with “hot takes” on Twitter and decided he needed to get in on that game.
sportsfan1
Legend
Zverev plays Alcaraz tough but has also laid clunkers against Nole. The loss at RG '25 was 3 very routine sets after Z took the first.
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Subway Tennis
G.O.A.T.
Mental warfare from Toni. Deliberately heaping the pressure on Zod even more by reminding him of his status in the game when he already knows how much he struggles with the pressure 
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Zverev is epic af 
jl809
Legend
He’d still find a way to lose like at RG 25
jackson vile
G.O.A.T.
Toni need to go lay down
AO13
Hall of Fame
Zverev could lead 6:0, 6:0, 5:0 and 40:0 on his serve, and he would still lose.
Exactly. I could agree Zverev currently is a better player than Djokovic until he reaches that point. If Zverev didnt turn into Chokerev he would have beaten Raz.
Fedforever
Hall of Fame
Nadal really needs to get Tio away from the press.
The salt is reaching ocean levels.
The salt is reaching ocean levels.
weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
How does it impact Rafa in any way? He's literally just chilling on a yacht somewhere
Gastino
Professional
Yeah Toni Nadal is not a neutral party I'd take anything he says with a grain of salt.
Not platforming him at all is even better, I never heard Toni say anything insightful.
octobrina10
Bionic Poster
Uncle Toni has made headlines for over decades. Spanish journalists (newspapers, radios, TV) have liked to ask Toni questions about tennis.
Toni is also a tennis writer. Since 2017, he has had a column in EL Pais, a widely-read Spanish daily newspaper. Other media outlets have often used quotes from Toni's articles.
Toni was interviewed by Onda Cero, a generalist radio station that operates throughout Spain. Journalists asked questions, and Toni answered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onda_Cero
'Nadal' is not Tio's babysitter.
.. also a tennis writer. Since 2017, he has had a column in EL Pais, a widely-read Spanish daily newspaper. Other me
Toni likes journalists and they like him. Thank you for the link.
messiahrobins
G.O.A.T.
Translated...'I'm open to being Saschas next coach'.
Lest we forget Zverev was at the Academy for a while so this smacks of a come and hire me type statement
I procrastinated on saying this exact thing.
So was FAA and when he hired Toni, his level went down for a while. When Felix came back and got to the quarterfinals of FO, Toni let him down for his seeming conflict of interest. FAA played Rafa.
I AGREE!
octobrina10
Bionic Poster
Zverev said in July he was trying to convince Toni to spend more weeks with him, but Toni is a very busy man (he is often invited to speak at events).
The ATP website, 27 July 2025: ¤¤ During his pre-tournament press conference at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, Zverev detailed his time in Spain and expressed his gratitude for the Nadal family’s help.
“The time in Mallorca was amazing,” Zverev told the assembled media. “I'm trying to convince him [Toni] to do more weeks with me, and we'll see how it goes, but he's a very busy man. Also he has a lot of dates that he already committed to this year, so I'm not sure how much of him you'll see this year.”
[Toni] Nadal is booked for various events and speaking engagements. Zverev added: “But we're talking about what a potential partnership could look like, for sure, and I can give you an update probably in a few weeks’ time when we know more. But I enjoyed my time there, that's for sure.”¤¤
Inside Alexander Zverev's time with Toni Nadal & the potential of a partnership | ATP Tour | Tennis
Shortly after Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev was sitting at an airport when he received an interesting message on his phone. The sender? Toni Nadal, the uncle and longtime coach of Rafael Nadal.
www.atptour.com
,,,
TennisGrandpA
Legend
In final? No
dking68
G.O.A.T.
USO 2021 and he was beaming with confidence and still choked to Novak
octobrina10
Bionic Poster
Toni Nadal began working with FAA in 2021, which was the latter's most successful season then.
Felix Auger-Aliassime confirms he's split with Toni Nadal as he says what their relationship is now like
Felix Auger-Aliassime confirms he's split with Toni Nadal as the Canadian says what their relationship is now like
messiahrobins
G.O.A.T.
Would be a good team as Zverev has all the tools it's mentally he struggles and Toni is great at that sideZverev said in July he was trying to convince Toni to spend more weeks with him, but Toni is a very busy man (he is often invited to speak at events).
The ATP website, 27 July 2025: ¤¤ During his pre-tournament press conference at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, Zverev detailed his time in Spain and expressed his gratitude for the Nadal family’s help.
“The time in Mallorca was amazing,” Zverev told the assembled media. “I'm trying to convince him [Toni] to do more weeks with me, and we'll see how it goes, but he's a very busy man. Also he has a lot of dates that he already committed to this year, so I'm not sure how much of him you'll see this year.”
[Toni] Nadal is booked for various events and speaking engagements. Zverev added: “But we're talking about what a potential partnership could look like, for sure, and I can give you an update probably in a few weeks’ time when we know more. But I enjoyed my time there, that's for sure.”¤¤
Inside Alexander Zverev's time with Toni Nadal & the potential of a partnership | ATP Tour | Tennis
Shortly after Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev was sitting at an airport when he received an interesting message on his phone. The sender? Toni Nadal, the uncle and longtime coach of Rafael Nadal.
,,,
messiahrobins
G.O.A.T.
FAA I'm not sure has the same desire Zverev has. We all laugh at Zverev but one thing we can't deny is he wants to reach the top . Nort sure FAA ever did
Razer
G.O.A.T.
Not a bad idea tbh
Zverev should hire Toni. Unlike Felix, this time Toni probably wants to be back in the action for real and seriously coach Zverev to win.
messiahrobins
G.O.A.T.
Zverev wants to be at the top toni can work with that
FAA I don't think had that same desire tbh.
TennisGrandpA
Legend
Z had a chance to with Becker and he let it go , imagine Becker with him at 18-19
Z also turned Lendl away, in favor of his father.
RSJfan
Legend
roysid
Legend
Zverev is so one dimensional that Djokovic wins easily in final. He won't trade backhands with zverev. A dropshot every 3rd ball and that's it
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