Zverev cries out against the organization of Roland Garros for his insulin injections: If I don’t do it, my life is in danger

A Alexander Zverev he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was three years old. She has been living with insulin her whole life. The German tennis player, who faces Argentine Tomás Martín Etcheverry today in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, he has to manage every time he competes in a grand slam like the French dirt circuit. In ATP tournaments it is much easier, I inject insulin on the court during game breaks, naturally, but here I am not allowed to do it on the court, they told me that I am obliged to leave the court, explained the Hamburg, in his appearance prior to the start of the competition.

It happened to me in my third round match against Frances Tiafoe, but I was told this would count as a bathroom break. Obviously, I replied: ‘Come on, guys! I only have two bathroom breaks per match, but in a five-set match I sometimes have to inject myself four or five times.. I told them that this could not be the case, that these regulations do not allow me to enjoy something basic and necessary for my well-being, for my life, recounted the German tennis player, currently number 27 in the world, and who has become a benchmark for players. diabetics who dream of progressing in professional sports.

During the second round I had a comedown, so I took the opportunity to go out and inject myself. At that time a supervisor entered the room who did not know about this, that person panicked. ‘You can’t do that!’, he yelled when he saw me.. “A doctor has to come to inject it,” he added. I told him that this cannot be, because a doctor, if he is not specialized, cannot help me if he does not have the correct data on how much I have to inject. So I explained it to him very clearly: ‘I have had diabetes since I was three years old, I know exactly what to do’. However, he did not understand and replied that this can only be done by a doctor, so we had another heated discussion, Zverev revealed.

I have spoken with the Roland Garros organization to ask them what I should do, what is the right thing to do. If I have to go off track to do it, then go ahead, it only takes me five seconds. Ideally, they would let me do it on the track, but They told me that this will look weird if they are done on the court, which doesn’t seem smart to me, because if I don’t do it, my life is in danger. What do you mean it looks weird? How does it look? How doping? This discussion is pointless, he added.