Alexander Zverev says Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are just different when it comes to returning to tennis from injuries. Nadal, 36, has struggled with injuries and setbacks for most of his career, but nonetheless the Spaniard has always been able to find a way to get back to his best.
On the other hand, Federer underwent knee surgery after Wimbledon 2016. When Federer returned to action, the Swiss won three Grand Slams between January 2017 and January 2018. Zverev, 25, pulled multiple ligaments in his ankle in last year’s French Open semi-final match against Nadal.
Zverev returned to action at the start of the 2023 season but the German is far from at his best.
Zverev: Nadal and Federer are just different
“I don’t know how they do it.
But they’ve been doing it for 20 years now. I needed time but I think maybe my injury was a bit different too. I couldn’t walk properly for two months. You have to learn your movements again, you have to learn to walk again, you have to learn to walk again.
These are all factors that can play a small role in tennis. But you can’t compare Rafa to me because Rafa comes back and starts winning and not only wins against everyone but beats them 6-0, 6-1, 6-2,” Zverev told Eurosport.
Zverev and Nadal left it all out as the German collapsed on the pitch and started screaming in pain. Recently, Zverev returned to clay for the first time since the injury. Zverev is slowly regaining his confidence and feeling on clay.
“Maybe it was a little different this year. I still had to get the injury and the accident out of my head so that I could feel really comfortable sliding again and feel really comfortable on the clay court again.
But I feel like that will pass over time and I feel like the more games I play on the surface the better it gets and I also need to remember the good memories I had on that surface ‘ said Zverev.
