The German, back at Roland-Garros a year after his serious injury, cannot use his treatment.
If for now Alexander Zverev continues the performances at Roland-Garros, a year after his terrible ankle injury against Rafael Nadal, he is not in the best conditions to evolve in this tournament and it is the German who mentioned him in conference Press. A type 1 diabetic since he was a child, Alexander Zverev has had too high blood sugar levels, which forces the 27th player in the world to inject himself with insulin several times in a match, under penalty of serious problems. health.
Problem, the rules of Roland-Garros refuse that the German injects such a product on the court without the supervision of a specialist. “During ATP tournaments, it’s very easy. I regularly inject myself with insulin on the court during the changes. Here, in Paris, I’m not allowed to do it on the court. They said I had to leave the pitch. In my last game (against Frances Tiafoe) they told me it would count as a bathroom break. I was like, ‘Guys, come on! I only have two bathroom breaks per game, but in a best-of-five game sometimes I have to inject myself four or even five times.’ So I told them that was not possible because it would mean that something that is necessary to my well-being, to my life, is not allowed.”
A wind of panic during the 2nd round
Also at a press conference, the German said that the supervisor during the second round of Roland-Garros had panicked when he saw the German giving himself injections alone. “A supervisor who didn’t know came into the room and panicked, saying, ‘No, no, you can’t do that. A doctor has to come and inject it”. I told him that it was wrong because a normal doctor cannot help me if he is not specialized, and if he does not have the good data on how much insulin I need to inject. I said to them, ‘Look, I’ve had diabetes since I was three years old. I know exactly what to do. But he replied: ‘No, it’s a doctor who has to do it’.” Despite this daily ordeal, Alexander Zverev is on the way to finding the semi-finals of Roland-Garros, only one year after his terrible injury.