Alexander Zverev’s personal life hasn’t been any short of turbulence. The German star has been suffering from Type 1 diabetes since childhood and playing with this condition at the highest level. Amid his medical and injury setbacks, Zverev found constant support in his girlfriend, Sophia Thomalla. The two have been in a relationship for a long time and Thomalla can often be seen cheering for Alexander Zverev in the stadiums.

The two have been linked to each other since 2020 after Zverev split with his ex-girlfriend, Olga Sharypova. Zverev and Thomalla started dating soon after and have been going strong in their relationship. Thomalla is a fellow German native and was raised in her home country. Zverev’s girlfriend is a model and an actress and featured in several high-profile shows like a local adaptation of Are You the One? and a dating game show on MTV.

Once a Playboy model, Thomalla turned to acting after landing several gigs across German TV shows and movies. Zverev and Thomalla met through a mutual friend in 2020 and made their relationship public. Interestingly, Zverev is seven and a half years younger than Thomalla and their age gap often comes into the limelight. However, the German star has strongly denied the rumors that it affects their relationship.

Additionally, his girlfriend’s presence is a huge boost for Zverev during his matches. He once said, “I think for tennis players it is always very important who you have next to you. Sophia is someone who gives me peace and security. I play extremely well with her behind me and I hope that will continue to be the case next year and maybe even better. I haven’t achieved all of my goals yet.”

Further, Zverev and Thomalla have stolen the spotlight at the ongoing Australian Open. The two were involved in an interesting moment that took social media by storm.

Alexander Zverev explains his secret handshake with girlfriend

Thomalla has traveled to Melbourne to support her boyfriend’s quest of winning his maiden Grand Slam title. It has been so far, so good for Zverev, having cruised into the semifinals. However, during his quarterfinal encounter against Tommy Paul, Zverev’s secret handshake with Thomalla became a talking point.

Later, during the post-match interview, he lifted the lid on this subject, saying, “Oh my God, I mean, what, what are you doing to me? I’ve just played for 4 hours now. Yeah, I mean, we, we’ve been together for 3.5 years now, like, you gotta understand we’re German. This is like the coolest version of German you can be. So like this is, this is like the top of German coolness, like it doesn’t go any further than that. So we, we did it, we did well.”

However, Zverev will have his task cut out as he faces Novak Djokovic in the last four at the Australian Open. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep his hopes alive of winning his first Grand Slam title here.