The Spaniard praised the talented 19-year-old, who is considered a multiple major winner of the future, as he defied doubts about both his fitness and form during a four-hour contest on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday.
Asked how he won, Nadal said: "By fighting. And by running a lot. I think everybody knows how good Alexander now is.
"He is the future of our sport and the present too. It was a tough match for me, I was not playing my best and not feeling well because I was losing too much court.
"Then I changed the dynamic in the third, I was feeling better and I had more time to control the points from the baseline.
"After losing the tie-break I said, 'I need to fight for every point. Forget the result'. And that's what I did."
The victory will do wonders for Nadal's self-belief after fighting his way back from an injury-plagued 2016.
Nadal added: "Mentally I have been very positive during the whole match. In terms of physical performance I felt great, ready to run for every ball.
"In terms of the level of tennis, I think I finished the match playing much better than what I started the match. That's a very important thing."
Zverev came into the match having won four out of his last five meetings against top-10 players, although he is yet to do so at a Grand Slam.
However, the world No 24 believes he is closing in on the elite.
"I am close. I kind of showed it a few times last year, and this now," Zverev said.
"Even now I'm disappointed but I know that this was a great match. That was a great fight. There's a lot of positives in this match.
"I think he's probably one of the fittest tennis players in the history of the game.
"Obviously I wanted to win. I could have won. It's disappointing. But I'm fine actually."
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