It’s been a few days since he made his diabetes public. In an interview, tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev gave another insight into his emotional world. Zverev told the French sports newspaper “L’Equipe” that he was ashamed of his diabetes for a long time. Zverev reported that he had had many bad experiences as a child.
Even at the beginning of his career at the age of 17 or 18, he denied having the disease. “In the beginning I even hid to inject myself with insulin. I did that in the toilet. When I started dating girls it was impossible to talk to them about it. I was far too embarrassed to bring up the subject,” said Zverev, who founded the “Alexander Zverev Foundation – Surcharge Against Diabetes”.
He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was three and a half years old. As a child, he had many bad experiences. Once his equipment and insulin were stolen. He found it broken on the ground outside. “I never really got rid of this childhood trauma, it’s still in the back of my mind,” said Zverev. He was also sometimes forbidden to eat cake at birthday parties.
The doctors told him when he was a child that he could not do top-class sport with this disease. “I think I can say today that they were wrong. With this foundation, I want to send the message to parents and children all over the world that there are no limits, except those that you set yourself,” emphasized the 25-year-old, who is currently preparing for his comeback after suffering a severe ligament injury in rehab is working.
He has no problems practicing his sport. He always keeps his blood glucose meter in his tennis bag. Zverev does not see a major disadvantage. “It’s one more thing to deal with, but if I lose it’s my fault. Point. I don’t want to use diabetes as an excuse for losing,” said the world number two.
