Alexander Zverev revealed that he sought advice and insight from Rafael Nadal and his uncle, Toni, after his early exit from Wimbledon.
The world number three was knocked out in the first round at SW19 by Arthur Rinderknech in a five-set thriller which lasted four hours and 45 minutes, marking his earliest grand slam exit since 2019, also at Wimbledon.
After his exit, Zverev admitted to mental health struggles, having lost the Australian Open final in January before being knocked out of the French Open quarter-final in his other grand slam appearances this year.
In preparation for the Toronto Masters, where Zverev will be the top seed, he took a trip to Mallorca to gain insight from the Nadal family.
Zverev says he gained "helpful" advice as he also tried to convince Toni Nadal to join his coaching staff.
"[Toni is] a great coach, no question about that, but he's a personality that I think can give you confidence as well," said Zverev.
"When he speaks and when Rafa speaks, you listen.
"They definitely spent a lot of hours talking to me, and Rafa gave me some great insight of what it is actually like to play against me.
"He saw me as a player. He sees me now as a spectator. It was very helpful. We spent hours and hours talking, sometimes past midnight at some dinners. It was great to be there.
"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.
"I'm not sure how much of him you'll see this year, because he gave his word to a lot of events. But we're talking about what a potential partnership could look like, for sure."
Zverev has not played in any tournaments since his brief Wimbledon campaign. He will begin the Canadian competition with a second-round matchup against Australia's Adam Walton.
