ATP Tour

Alexander Zverev: Why Type 1 diabetes didn't stop me from becoming World No. 1

No words can truly describe this year.

Two Grand Slam titles, countless memories and today, I woke up as the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. It is very special. To be able to feel what it is like being on top of the world is amazing.

I’ve been able to win many important tournaments in my career. But having the No. 1 next to my name is such a special feeling that is impossible to describe.

More than four years ago, I reached World No. 2 for the first time. Sometimes you’ve got to wait for the best things in life. All I can say is I am thankful, especially for those who have helped me along the way.

A lot of people talk about my father, Alexander Sr., who is my coach, and my brother, Mischa, who was in the Top 25 in the world. They both have played a very important role in my career, and I think a big reason why so many people know about it is that they are shown more on TV, whether in the box or coaching me on court during practice.

But the truth behind it is that the most important person in my life — and for my tennis career — generally has always been my mother, Irina. She is the one who taught me how to play tennis. She was my first coach.

_{^{Mischa Zverev, Irina Zvereva and Alexander Zverev in June 2023. Credit: Gerald Matzka/Getty Images}}

When I was born, Mischa was almost 10 years old and by the time I was old enough to play sports, my father was traveling with him to junior tournaments to help him achieve his dreams. So while everyone supported me, it was mostly my mom and I back home doing everything together. And that is not just related to tennis.

When I was four years old, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. When that happened, my mom said, ‘Okay, he's still going to be able to play tennis. He's still going to be able to achieve the dreams that he has’.

No matter what obstacle was going to be in my way, she was not going to let anything stop me. I don't want to say living with Type 1 diabetes helped me in my tennis career, or in life in general. But it definitely made me grow up a bit quicker than I probably would have done without it.

I still remember going to school at six years old, when I had to take care of my diabetes myself for multiple hours every day. That's when you start to realise, ‘Okay, you have to inject yourself, you have to measure your sugar when you eat’ and stuff like that. Those were the first moments when I realised I needed to take responsibility for my own health, which most kids don’t need to think about.

At that age, I didn't know the reason behind what I was doing, just that it was important that I did. I think it's actually more difficult for the parents because it is a shock to walk into a doctor's office for them to say that their child has diabetes and will have diabetes for the rest of his or her life.

The doctors start to tell the parents that different things are not possible for their child and that doing certain activities, like sports, might not be the best life choice. My mom would send me out of the room during those conversations, because she did not want me to hear what was going on.

But my mom never accepted those things and would do everything in her power to help me make my dreams come true. Because of that, I never really had any doubt that I could achieve anything, and that was thanks to having a very strong mother by my side. And again, she was my tennis coach until the age of 16, too.

One thing that I believe helped is that I never saw myself as different to anyone else. There were situations in which I was trying to hide my diabetes a little bit because I didn't want to inject myself in front of other kids. I was a bit embarrassed by it.

I was quite insecure about the illness early on, especially in my early days on Tour. I was trying to hide it. I didn't want a lot of players to know. The reality is that I feel like every single player in the world knew already because it wasn't something that I was capable of hiding. How can I hide it if I'm around those people for 40 weeks a year?

Everything changed when I hurt my ankle at Roland Garros in 2022. I had a lot of time on my hands and would think about a lot of things. For example, the thought popped in my mind that surely there are kids in the same situation that I was 20 years ago. They have to go through the same things that I went through when I was younger with diabetes.

And that is what led to me creating the Alexander Zverev Foundation. When we launched it, I went public with my diabetes and I'm really happy that I did. With my foundation, we are capable of helping thousands of kids each year by providing necessary medicine, and just making sure that kids are able to survive.

I am privileged to be in a position where I can make a difference, and it is my pleasure to do everything in my power to do so.

# # #

At this year’s Australian Open, I lost a tough semi-final to Carlos Alcaraz in nearly five-and-a-half hours. Funnily enough, I lost the match, but I was still quite happy. We both went to our absolute limit, and I felt like we both played a really good tennis match. I was playing the right way. I was playing to win the tennis match, and I knew that if I continued working on the things that I was doing in that match, I would have my chances in the year, and that is exactly what has happened.

I won my first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, which was a huge goal of mine. And as soon as I did that, I started thinking about trying to become World No. 1.

_{^{Mischa Zverev, Alexander Zverev, Alexander Zverev Sr. and Irina Zvereva at Roland Garros in June 2026. Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images}}

It's a weird circumstance because of Jannik’s injury. This is not the way that you want to reach the top of the sport. Ideally, you would become World No. 1 when everybody is healthy and playing at their best. But now I am here: World No. 1.

Most importantly, I feel like me being World No. 1 is extremely important to a large group of people who have the same issues with diabetes. This is not about me.

It is great to show everyone out there that they can really achieve their dreams, even with this illness. Yes, with diabetes, you have to grow up faster and take care of yourself a bit better. But everything is possible and you will be able to live a fulfilled life with it.

I'm proud as a Type 1 diabetic to show that to families dealing with the disease. And if ever there will be another World No. 1 with diabetes, I would be the happiest person in the world.