Alexander Zverev exited the ATP 500 tournament in Halle at the semi-final stage after a dramatic 7-6, 4-6, 5-7 defeat to Taylor Fritz in a match that lasted almost three hours and marked the American’s seventh straight head-to-head victory.
The German struggled throughout the game, being visibly affected physically and receiving medical attention for his back, but in the end he revealed that the real difficulty was not the injury.
“I felt absolutely terrible. That was the real reason!”
Zverev explained that a blood glucose monitoring sensor malfunctioned, which affected his diet during the game, as he has been known to manage diabetes for several years. Despite this background, Zverev emphasized that he was not looking for excuses and acknowledged the merits of Fritz for qualifying for the final.
“I don’t think there is any cause for concern before Wimbledon. My back strained a little, but that wasn’t the main reason for the loss. I’ve been having huge problems with my blood sugar because the sensor I’m using has been giving me a completely wrong reading. It was showing very high values when in fact they were low, so I injected much more insulin than I should have.
During the match, or rather the first 45 minutes, I had to consume about 350 grams of sugar. I felt absolutely terrible. That was the real reason why I wasn’t physically present in the second set and I struggled a lot in the third as well. Even so, I fought, I gave it my all, and in the end I have to admit that Taylor deservedly won. He played better than me today. He was more present, fresher, moved better and deserved the win!”Alexander Zverev said.
“The doctors were working on my back, but the real problem was something else!”
The German later explained that he has never been in a similar situation, although he has been using sensors to monitor blood sugar for almost a decade.
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“This is the first time this has happened to me. I have been using these types of sensors since 2016 or 2017 and have never seen such a large error. After the second set, the doctors were working on my back, but the real problem was something else. If someone analyzes the match, they will see that I was constantly drinking a glucose drink.
In the end, I consumed between 300 and 350 grams of sugar. It is very difficult to manage. It’s like someone drinking a huge amount of juice during a game. Obviously, it won’t feel good. But I had to because otherwise my blood sugar would have been dangerously low all the time. I noticed this shortly before the game. The device was showing extremely high levels. However, I could already feel that my blood sugar was low. I decided to take another measurement and confirmed that the level was indeed low. At that moment I thought:
“I’m already looking forward to Wimbledon!”
The extremely short course in Halle left Alexander Zverev cold, but the player from Germany did not lose faith in his own strength. He is looking forward to Wimbledon, the competition where he has never made it past the last eight.
“The disappointment is great, because I feel that my tennis was there, but for other reasons I could not show it. The last times I played against Taylor, he was a better player than me, but today I felt my level was there. I just wasn’t physically able to demonstrate it on the field. Even so, that gives me positive signs for Wimbledon because I think I felt pretty good on the grass and hopefully I can maintain those feelings next week.
I’m already looking forward to Wimbledon and I feel like I’ve shown some really good grass tennis this week. I played some good matches and that’s important for me. Everything else is secondary now. In tennis, I always say that even when things are going well, you have to have a short memory because the next tournament is right around the corner. Wimbledon starts practically immediately. I will do my best to prepare well and play good tennis there as well!”concluded Alexander Zverev.
