Alexander Zverev’s 7th straight loss to Taylor Fritz at the Halle Open has prompted the German to open up about how a faulty glucose sensor caused him to inject too much insulin, which reportedly compromised his performance on the court.
At the Halle Open, the reigning Roland Garros champion, Alexander Zverev, battled through a series of close matches to reach the semifinals and face his long-time nemesis, America’s Taylor Fritz, who holds a dominating 10-5 head-to-head record against the German. After a grueling two-hour, 39-minute encounter, Fritz beat Zverev 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 to reach the final.
After the match, Zverev gave an interview to a tennis channel in German, which got transcribed by an analyst (user: @ilyza1002) on X. Zverev said that injecting too much insulin a few hours before the match left him physically unwell. He revealed that a malfunction in his glucose sensor led to a false high blood sugar reading, which forced him to take far too much insulin to bring it down.
“I had extreme problems with my blood sugar today because, unfortunately, before the match the device – the sensor I use – displayed an incorrect blood sugar reading, so I injected far too much insulin.”
During the later part of the interview, he continued:
“Then I checked it myself, and my blood sugar was actually already low, so I thought, ‘Okay, this is going to be a difficult day.'”
Since his blood sugar level was not high and he had unknowingly taken high doses of insulin, the world’s No. 3 experienced a sugar crash, and hence, he had to consume 300 g to 350 g of sugar gel in the first 45 minutes of the match just to bring his sugar levels back up to a normal level from physically crashing out on court. The solution did not help, as it made Zverev physically weak and ultimately cost him the match.
Zverev has had the same sensor since 2016-17 and said that this was the first time the device gave a wrong reading.
Alexander Zverev’s Hunt For a First Grass Court Title Continues After Halle Open Exit
Alexander Zverev was just two matches away from making history by winning his first grass-court title, just weeks after winning one on clay. However, the dream came to an end at the Halle Open semifinals after Taylor Fritz managed to outpower Zverev in three sets.
After the match, the German spoke about the physical setbacks that influenced the game. He also expressed disappointment at losing out on an opportunity to win his first grass-court title in his home country, while also commending Fritz’s gameplay.
“Yes, I’m disappointed because I feel my tennis is there. But unfortunately, for other reasons, it just didn’t work out today. And the last few times I’ve played against Taylor Fritz, he’s been the better player, and I feel that my game was there today, but I simply wasn’t physically able to show it.”
Zverev has also expressed optimism for Wimbledon, suggesting that the Halle Open has provided him with enough grass experience to shine bright in London.
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