LONDON (AP) — Alexander Zverev has more than just defending champion Jannik Sinner to deal with on Sunday in the Wimbledon final.
The 29-year-old German also has Type 1 diabetes, which requires him to monitor his glucose levels and, if needed, inject insulin during matches.
Zverev, who won the French Open and is seeking back-to-back Grand Slam titles, uses an insulin pen when needed to jab the top of his thigh during changeovers on court.
Here's some more information about Zverev and the disease.
Zverev disclosed in 2022 that he has Type 1 diabetes, having been diagnosed at age 4, according to his diabetes foundation. He had previously kept it quiet. If he needed an insulin jab during a match, he'd do it privately during bathroom breaks.
The announcement coincided with him launching his foundation, to help children in particular.
“If 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’ll be the happiest person in the world,” Zverev said after an early-round victory at Wimbledon. “There’s a lot of great athletes, there’s a lot of actors, musicians, who have diabetes. It shows that with diabetes there shouldn’t be any limits.”
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.
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 “awful" and lost the match in three sets.
“The company’s investigating it, looking into it,” he said at a pre-Wimbledon press conference, referring to the firm that makes the sensor. “I’ve been using it for 10-plus years. This is the first time ever it happened."
The sensors are life changing, he noted.
“Those things are still very, very useful for a diabetic, make the life of a diabetic much easier than without them,” he added. “It was very unfortunate for me that it happened, but I think as a product, it still is very helpful for millions of diabetes patients.”
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't need to do finger-prick blood tests. Otherwise, phones are not allowed on court.
NHL Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke played his whole career with Type 1 diabetes, and current NHL player Max Domi also has the chronic disease.
Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, diagnosed in childhood, frequently checks his blood sugar levels during games.
Former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in his mid-20s, as was Olympic champion swimmer Gary Hall Jr.
Advocates say visibility is important, and not just in sports.
A year ago, Mattel introduced its first Barbie representing a person with Type 1 diabetes. She wears a continuous glucose monitor — to track blood sugar levels — on her arm while holding a phone displaying an accompanying app.
It was once called “juvenile diabetes” 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.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that with the disease, “your pancreas doesn’t 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’t get into cells and builds up in the bloodstream.” Insulin shots are required to manage the blood sugar levels.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Alexander Zverev of Germany returns the ball to Taylor Fritz of the United States in their quarter-final men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Alexander Zverev of Germany reacts after a point against Arthur Fery of Britain in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates winning against Taylor Fritz of the United States in their quarter-final men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Oman’s foreign ministers met on Saturday to discuss the Strait of Hormuz that lies between them, after days of Iranian attacks on ships and U.S. retaliation that dealt a blow to the interim deal to end the war.
Iran’s new supreme leader, still unseen since the war began, vowed in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Iranians would avenge his killing in the war’s opening strikes on Feb. 28.
Such revenge “is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out,” Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement carried on state television, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more missile attacks.
Oman said it and Iran agreed to keep talking about the crucial waterway “at the technical and political levels,” a day after the United States called on Iran to publicly say the crucial waterway is open and ships won’t be attacked.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he met with his counterpart in Oman to discuss “appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the safe passage of ships.”
The world for decades has considered the strait an international waterway. Iran has insisted that the strait now remain under its control and that it be allowed to charge ships moving through it, a stance it took after the war began. The U.S. urges mariners to transit on a southern route through Oman’s territorial waters.
About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began. Iran’s grip on it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
Iran's top diplomat also accused the U.S. of violating the interim deal by ending waivers allowing Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in U.S. dollars. Washington ended them in response to the attacks on ships in the strait.
“Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance,” Araghchi wrote on X.
A thousand “missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat,” Trump wrote on social media overnight
He said he was responding to threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him. During Khamenei's funeral, mourners held posters or banners calling for Trump to be killed along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump has declared the ceasefire over but said the U.S. would continue negotiations.
U.S. officials, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity about the current situation with Iran, said the resumption of strikes in recent days came after what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian hard-liners tried to sabotage the ceasefire.
Iran has insisted its theocracy is unified under the new supreme leader.
After the U.S. wrapped up its latest strikes on Thursday, more attacks reportedly hit Iran, raising questions about who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.
Israel didn't claim them, meaning the Gulf Arab states may have launched them, likely as a means to deter Iran from attacking them again. Iran on Thursday retaliated for U.S. strikes by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.
The strikes in Iran over two days killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others, Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said.
Price and Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Sam Metz in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.
A pro-government demonstrator wears an Iranian flag as she waves a religious flag in a gathering commemorating the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a square in Tehran, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A pro-government demonstrator holds an anti-Trump placard in a gathering commemorating the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a square in Tehran, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A girl waves an Iranian flag in a pro-government gathering commemorating the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a square in Tehran, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man holds a poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a gathering commemorating him at a square in Tehran, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A cleric waves an Iranian flag while holding a child as a woman waves a religious flag in a pro-government gathering commemorating the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a square in Tehran, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mostafa Khamenei, center, brother of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, leads a prayer over the coffin of his late father, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before his burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
In this photo released by Iran's Supreme Leader's office, mourners chant and raise their fists during the final funeral ceremony for the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Imam Reza Shrine before his burial in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
In this photo released by Iran's Supreme Leader's office, mourners carry the coffin of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei above the crowd for the final prayer before his burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
