‘I Was Bullied..’ – Tennis Star Divulges Suffering From Life-Long Illness After Hiding It Carefully From His ATP Peers

Bullying is an unfortunate occurrence that is ubiquitous in almost every phase of life. In such situations, realities rarely matter. Bullies often target people for circumstances beyond their control. The German tennis star, Alexander Zverev fell into such a pit when he was young. Zverev revealed last summer that doctors diagnosed him with type 1 diabetes when he was 3. With such an illness came several problems.

Zverev first came onto the professional scene in 2015 Wimbledon. He reached round two in his debut Grand Slam event and ever since, he has been a player to watch out for. Playing with a chronic disease is not a simple task and Zverev had to cross many hurdles to realize his dream.

When Alexander Zverev was bullied because of diabetes

The former world number number 2 recently interviewed with The ATP Tennis Radio Podcast. Host Seb Lauzier also interviewed other players such as Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and more. During his interview with Zverev, his question for the German focused on his journey with diabetes and how he ended up revealing to the world he had the condition.

Zverev detailed that he took his time to tell the world he had Type 1 diabetes, mainly because he carries some trauma from the past. Although he is relieved to tell the world, he waited so long because he felt uncomfortable. Doctors had told him that becoming a professional player in a sport as intense as tennis would be almost impossible with his condition.

“For a long period, I didn’t feel comfortable with it. I think there’s a lot of trauma from the past, maybe in a way,” Zverev said about his mindset.

He further explained that when he was nine, children used to bully him for having diabetes. Saying that they probably didn’t realize what they are doing, he mentioned how it can become another thing others can use to make fun of you.

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“For example in school I was bullied a little bit for it because when kids are nine, ten, eleven years old they don’t really realize why they do it. It’s just another thing they can bully you for in a way.”

“I took that with me for a long time and I was still trying to hide it from the tennis world, the media, other players as well because I just didn’t feel comfortable with it,” said the German about why he hid it.

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Alexander Zverev has shown the world that he is a tough player, when he reached the final of US Open 2020. In addition, he is the only active player outside of the big four to have won five ATP 1000 masters titles. The road has been tough for the German, but he will continue to push.