{"id":759113,"date":"2026-07-12T20:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T20:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/759113\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T20:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T20:24:09","slug":"wimbledon-finalist-alexander-zverev-is-using-his-tennis-success-to-raise-diabetes-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/759113\/","title":{"rendered":"Wimbledon finalist Alexander Zverev is using his tennis success to raise diabetes awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Alexander Zverev was dealing with more than just defending champion Jannik Sinner<\/a> on Sunday in the Wimbledon<\/a> final.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old German also has Type 1 diabetes,<\/a> which requires him to monitor his glucose levels and, if needed, inject insulin during matches.<\/p>\n

Zverev, who won the French Open<\/a> and is seeking back-to-back Grand Slam titles<\/a>, uses an insulin pen when needed to jab the top of his thigh during changeovers on court.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s some more information about Zverev and the disease.<\/p>\n

Zverev was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a boy<\/p>\n

Zverev disclosed in 2022 that he has Type 1 diabetes, having been diagnosed at age 4, according to his diabetes foundation<\/a>. He had previously kept it quiet. If he needed an insulin jab during a match, he\u2019d do it privately during bathroom breaks.<\/p>\n

The announcement coincided with him launching his foundation, to help children in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we as a foundation, and me just as a tennis player and somebody who has diabetes, can help even just a single kid or a single parent, I\u2019ll be the happiest person in the world,\u201d Zverev said after an early-round victory at Wimbledon. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of great athletes, there\u2019s a lot of actors, musicians, who have diabetes. It shows that with diabetes there shouldn\u2019t be any limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glucose sensor problem at tournament<\/p>\n

At a Wimbledon warmup event in Halle, Germany, Zverev said his glucose sensor gave him an incorrect reading at his semifinal match against Taylor Fritz. Because it showed falsely high levels, he accidentally injected too much insulin.<\/p>\n

When he figured out the problem, Zverev consumed 350 grams of sugar through glucose gels in the first hour of the match to normalize his blood sugar levels. He reported feeling \u201cawful\u201d and lost the match in three sets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company\u2019s investigating it, looking into it,\u201d he said at a pre-Wimbledon press conference, referring to the firm that makes the sensor. \u201cI\u2019ve been using it for 10-plus years. This is the first time ever it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sensors are life changing, he noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose things are still very, very useful for a diabetic, make the life of a diabetic much easier than without them,\u201d he added. \u201cIt was very unfortunate for me that it happened, but I think as a product, it still is very helpful for millions of diabetes patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zverev has permission from Grand Slam tournaments, the All England Club confirmed, to use his phone during matches to check his glucose levels. His sensor relays readings to the phone so that Zverev doesn\u2019t need to do finger-prick blood tests. Otherwise, phones are not allowed on court.<\/p>\n

Other high-profile athletes with Type 1 diabetes<\/p>\n

NHL Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke<\/a> played his whole career with Type 1 diabetes, and current NHL player Max Domi also has the chronic disease.<\/p>\n

Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, diagnosed in childhood, frequently checks his blood sugar levels during games.<\/p>\n

Former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in his mid-20s, as was Olympic champion swimmer Gary Hall Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n

Advocates say visibility is important, and not just in sports.<\/p>\n

A year ago, Mattel introduced its first Barbie representing a person with Type 1 diabetes<\/a>. She wears a continuous glucose monitor \u2014 to track blood sugar levels \u2014 on her arm while holding a phone displaying an accompanying app.<\/p>\n

Facts about Type 1 diabetes<\/p>\n

It was once called \u201cjuvenile diabetes\u201d because it most often occurs in children and teenagers. An estimated 9.2 million people have Type 1 diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that with the disease, \u201cyour pancreas doesn\u2019t make insulin or makes very little insulin. Insulin helps blood sugar enter the cells in your body for use as energy. Without insulin, blood sugar can\u2019t get into cells and builds up in the bloodstream.\u201d Insulin shots are required to manage the blood sugar levels.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 Alexander Zverev was dealing with more than just defending champion Jannik Sinner on Sunday in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[12082,985,325052,97,432,9832,2591,295183,99,2072,428,96,2467],"class_list":["post-759113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-diabetes","tag-gary-hall","tag-health","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-jay-cutler","tag-mark-andrews","tag-max-domi","tag-sports","tag-taylor-fritz","tag-tennis","tag-wimbledon","tag-wimbledon-championships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}