Alexander Zverev has mentioned an “incredibly kind” message he received from Rafael Nadal as he revealed he has been congratulated on winning the 2026 French Open by every top tennis star.
The world No 3 overcame Flavio Cobolli in a five-set title match at Roland Garros last week to claim his first-ever Grand Slam crown.
Zverev, who was beaten in his first three major finals, was previously considered by many to be the best player in tennis history to not win a major title.
The 29-year-old German received public messages from a host of high-profile figures in the tennis world — including both Nadal and Novak Djokovic — after his victory in Paris.
In a post on X/Twitter, Nadal wrote: “Congratulations, @AlexZverev on winning @rolandgarros! So well deserved after all the hard work and perseverance.
“You’ve been chasing your first Grand Slam for a long time, and you absolutely deserve it!”
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In an interview with Eurosport Germany, Zverev divulged that he has also received private messages and said these are the most meaningful to him.
“For me, private messages mean much more,” said Zverev.
“Every top tennis player congratulated me: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic.
“Rafa [Nadal] wrote me an exceptionally long message – I found that incredibly kind.
“Athletes from other sports as well: Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich. Dirk Nowitzki was following the match closely and even texted me during it. That really meant a lot to me.”
Zverev added: “I still have 1,600 unread messages.
“I’ve been on my phone for three days now trying to reply to everyone. But that’s fine. I’ll reply to everyone.”
Rafael Nadal helped Alexander Zverev in 2025
After he opened up about his mental struggles following a shock first round exit at Wimbledon last year, Zverev spent 10 days training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca ahead of the North American hard-court season.
Zverev revealed he gained “some great insight” after spending hours talking to both Rafael Nadal and the 22-time major champion’s uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal.
“He (Rafael Nadal) is a personality that I think can give you a lot of confidence as well, because when he speaks and when Rafa speaks, you listen,” explained Zverev.
“Yeah, they definitely spent a lot of hours talking to me, and they gave me some great insight. Rafa gave me some great insight of what it actually is like to play against me, because he saw me as a player, he saw me now as a spectator as well.
“It was very helpful, and again, we spent hours and hours talking, sometimes until past midnight in some dinners and stuff like that. So it was great to be there.”
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