Alexander Zverev believes if not for injury, he could have possibly defeated Rafael Nadal in the French Open last year.

Nadal defeated Zverev in the 2022 French Open semifinal after the latter was forced to retire in the second set due to an ankle injury. The Spaniard — who went on to win the Grand Slam for a fourteenth time — was notably leading Zverev 7-6, 6-6 before the match came to an abrupt end.

Would Nadal have gone to win had the German not gotten injured? Most probably would lean towards that side and Zverev is the first to acknowledge that himself.

That said, he believes with the way he was playing on the clay-court surface, he could have ended up beating Nadal on the day.

“For some reason I did. I don't want to sound arrogant,” Zverev told Eurosport.”Rafa is obviously the best player to ever play on that surface so you never know what happens. You never know what happens in that match as well. If I don't get injured, of course I [could have lost] that match. Of course, he can go on to win his 14th Grand Slam.

“But I felt like I was playing my best tennis that I've ever played on that surface. So for some reason, I did feel like I could at least compete with him, which I was doing. The outcome of the match obviously, always depends on little factors as well. But I did feel like that could have been the week for me.”

For now, we'll never know.

As things currently stand, Zverev is looking to win the Monte Carlo Masters. He is set to face Roberto Bautista Agut in the round of 32 after his win over Alexander Bublik on Monday.

Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, is still looking to return to action from a hip injury suffered during the Australian Open in January.