
German tennis star Alexander Zverev sought his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2026 French Open on Sunday. He wasn't going to let blood sugar issues stand in his way.
Zverev suffers from type 1 diabetes, which forced him to take an insulin shot during his match against Flavio Cobolli. At the 2023 French Open, the German star was told he couldn't take shots on court because it looked "weird," but the Grand Slam has since changed that stance.
Zverev told Reuters' Lidia Kelly in January that his battle with type 1 diabetes forces him to play "two games at once" whenever he's on the court. After he won his first game on Sunday, he captured the second.
Zverev beat Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-1, in four hours and 16 minutes, clinching the long-awaited Grand Slam title. Per OptaAce, the 29-year-old won 125 Grand Slam singles matches, the most among any player in the Open Era en route to his first major tournament win.
Zverev had to give himself an insulin shot mid-match
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 7, 2026
Watch Roland-Garros on TNT pic.twitter.com/VqRjq1doT2
125 - Alexander Zverev has claimed a 125th career Men's Singles match win at Grand Slam events - the most of any player in the Open Era en route to a maiden Grand Slam title. Wait.#RolandGarros | @rolandgarros @atptour pic.twitter.com/s7TS9SW6FT
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 7, 2026
Zverev outplayed Cobolli for most of the match, winning on the first serve 73 percent of the time (79-of-108) and hitting 50 winners. Cobolli, meanwhile, hit 42 winners and won his first serve 64 percent of the time (51-of-80).
Zverev, however, almost crumbled in the fourth set. He began cramping, allowing Cobolli to rally. But if low blood sugar wasn't going to stop him, neither was some cramping, especially with his family in attendance.
"We've been through the injuries. We've been through heartbreak," Zverev said in his on-court interview after the match (h/t The Tennis Letter). "We've been through losses. We've been losers at times in the important moments. But at the end of the day, we're Grand Slam champions now."
Zverev after winning his 1st Slam at Roland Garros
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 7, 2026
"We've been through injuries. We've been through heartbreak. We've been through losses. We've been losers at times in the important moments. But at the end of the day, we're Grand Slam Champions now." ❤️ pic.twitter.com/eYpDJ6ZZsE
Zverev didn't want to wait this long to win a Grand Slam, nor did he want to be hassled over how he manages his diabetes. Those challenges, though, must make the taste of his first Grand Slam victory even sweeter.
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