It is 2024 and Alex Zverev is back doing what he does best on a tennis court: back in a grand slam finaltopping the tree with a record number of match wins on the men’s circuit this season and returning to the career ranking of world number 2.
These are all achievements that seemed distant and inaccessible just two years ago.
“I’m happy (with) my level, I’m happy where I am in general with my tennis life,” Zverev told CNN Sport at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. “I still want to achieve a lot.”
Nightmare of injuries
Wind the clock back to June 2022 and Zverev’s career was following an almost identical trajectory.
He entered this year having enjoyed the best season of his career to date, having sealed a second season-ending ATP title in Turin at the end of 2021.
He was on the verge of reaching world No. 1 status in the rankings, and his quest for an elusive first Grand Slam singles title seemed within reach at the French Open.
But then everything changed.
During a thrilling semi-final encounter with Rafael Nadal under the lights at Roland Garros, the German rolled his right ankle, leading to torn ligaments.
He had no choice but to withdraw from the match and his hopes for the tournament – and many subsequent events – were dashed.
“I really felt like I was on the verge of winning my first Grand Slam. I was extremely close to the world No. 1,” he says. “It was a difficult time because there were so many things I wanted to achieve.
“Then there were obviously a lot of question marks, if I was ever going to get back to that level, if I was ever going to compete for Grand Slams, compete in the biggest tournaments in the world, if I I was even going to be able to play that kind of guy again.
“I don’t know life without diabetes”
Later that year, Zverev announced the launch of the Alexander Zverev Foundation, designed to support children living with type 1 diabetes and prevent type 2 diabetes.
Meanwhile, the 27-year-old revealed he has lived with Type 1 diabetes since the age of four and now tells CNN he “can’t remember a life” without it. disease.
Diabetes is characterized by high levels of glucose in the blood and can lead to serious health complications. Type 1 diabetes, which is inevitable, develops when the immune system destroys the beta cells of the pancreas, the only cells in the body that produce insulin.
“(Early) in my teens…I wanted to become a professional tennis player. It was already etched in my mind,” says Zverev. “Many specialists and doctors told me that it was impossible to be a professional athlete with this kind of illness.
“It was harder for me at the time, but now I feel like it’s just part of my life. Of course, this is not a disease that everyone wants to develop. I don’t want to have it, you know, millions of other kids don’t want to have it, but that’s okay. This is the journey that life brings you.
“I’m happy to have, hopefully, other kids who will have that kind of role model, to have someone they can say to, ‘He did it so I can do it too ‘ and that’s the most important thing to me.”
Next step
Zverev’s recovery from ankle surgery has been slow and cautious.
If 2023 was a year of small steps, 2024 was one of giant leaps with Zverev restoring his competitiveness at the sport’s flagship tournaments.
He started the year with a victory declared over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of the Australian Openonly for the Spaniard to get his revenge in an unforgettable French Open final.
He also has the distinction of being Rafael Nadal’s last opponent at Roland Garros, eliminating the Spaniard in the first round of the tournament.
Although surpassed by Taylor Fritz in a tense US Open quarterfinalclinching the Paris Masters 1000 title, Zverev arrived in Turin on a wave of momentum.
His strong performances this year come amid controversy off the field. In June, Zverev and his former partner have agreed to settle an assault case without admission of guilt from Zverev, the Berlin Tiergarten district court announced at the time.
Zverev was accused of “physical violence and harm to the health of a woman during an argument in Berlin in May 2020”, according to a court statement from October last year. He was fined €450,000 ($478,000) in October 2023, although Zverev denied the allegations and appealed.
He was ultimately fined €200,000. His lawyers told CNN in June that the player “agreed to this withdrawal through his defense attorney, for the sole purpose of shortening the proceedings – primarily in the interest of their child.”
The lawyers added: “Alexander Zverev is considered innocent. Dismissal constitutes neither a finding of guilt nor an admission of guilt. The legal presumption of innocence remains unaffected.”
Now, Zverev seeks a hat-trick of Nitto ATP Finals crowns to kick off what he hopes will be a breakthrough season ahead. Despite being a professional for over 10 years and owning a number of Masters 1000 titles, Zverev has only reached two major finals, losing both.
The big question is: will 2025 finally be the time to break the Grand Slam title?
“I hope so,” he said. “You never know, anything can happen. Of course, as in 2022, anything can happen. I feel more ready than ever to take the next step.
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