Alexander Zverev honored to be called a future No. 1 by Federer, Nadal

Alexander Zverev, who won Washington last week, is happy to hear Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal saying he can become No. 1 someday, but he knows he still has to really improve his game to be up there.

“It’s always nice to hear stuff from Roger and from Rafa, that they think I can become the world No. 1,” said Zverev, who is playing in Montreal. “They know what it takes. A lot of journalists say, ‘He might be a world No. 1, he might be a Grand Slam champion.’ But coming from fellow tennis players, it's something that I see as more value because they know how to do it. They always mention that me and Dominic [Thiem] might be the next two guys.

"But we both know that we still have a lot of hard work ahead of us. There's other young guys that are coming through, as well. We'll see what the future holds for all of us.”

No. 8 Zverev has won Montpellier, Munich, the ATP 1000 Masters in Rome and now Washington in 2017. Along the way, he’s recorded wins over Novak Djokovic, Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet and Kei Nishikori.

Zverev believes that it doesn’t matter whether he is playing on clay, grass or hard courts, and is confident he can make a run at all the Grand Slams.

“I feel like I can play on all surfaces,” Zverev said. “I've been to two finals or won tournaments on every single surface. I don't feel like I have to focus on one, like some players do [with the] French Open or Wimbledon, something like that. I feel like I have good chances on all of them. The other guys are still dominating those tournaments. I know that I still have to get a lot better to be able to win a major.”

Zverev will face Gasquet in the second round in Montreal.

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