Fresh off his French Open triumph, Alexander Zverev looked destined to reach the Terra Wortmann Open semifinal at the grass-court event. However, that dream slipped away as American Taylor Fritz, extending his dominance with a 7-straight win over the world No. 3, battled back to claim the three-set victory. However, at the end of the match, it was the German’s blood sugar level that triggered physical distress and ultimately handed the American a decisive edge.

“This is the first time something like this has happened to me. I’ve been using these sensors since 2016 or 2017, and in nine years, I had never seen such a big error. After the second set, the doctors were working on my back, but the real issue was different. If someone watches the match, they will see that I was constantly drinking a glucose drink after another,” Zverev added in the post-match press conference.

The German, who has been dealing with type 1 diabetes since age 4, explained that the sensor gave completely wrong readings before the match.  “In the end, I ended up consuming between 300 and 350 grams of sugar. That is very hard to manage. It’s like someone drinking a huge amount of soda during a match. Obviously, they wouldn’t feel well. But I had to do it because otherwise, I would have remained with sugar levels too low all the time.”

The current Roland-Garros champion further revealed when he first realized something was seriously wrong. “I noticed it shortly before the match. The device was indicating extremely high levels. However, I already felt that my sugar was low. I decided to do an additional measurement and confirmed that indeed, my levels were low. At that moment, I thought, ‘It’s going to be a tough day’.”

The effects of the health scare soon became visible in the opening set. Zverev struggled physically and needed an off-court medical timeout at 3-4 (40-40). At first, it appeared that he was dealing with a back problem.

Despite those setbacks, the German ace showed plenty of fight. He recovered well enough to edge out the opening set in a tense tie-break. Fritz, on the other side of the court, refused to let the match slip away. The American raised his level in the 2nd set and forced the contest into a decider.

As the SF went on, Zverev’s back issue and his unstable sugar levels made things even more difficult, as he was unable to maintain the same intensity in the final set. The former world No. 4 took full advantage of the situation and closed out a hard-fought 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 victory. 

And despite Sascha’s run in Halle coming to an end, he has already shared a positive update on his SW19 preparations. 

Alexander Zverev provides his Wimbledon update after health scare in Halle

Looking ahead, the German ace made it clear that his focus has already shifted toward the grass-court Slam. Rather than dwelling on the defeat at the ATP 500 event, he believes the tournament gave him confidence in his grass-court game.

“I’m already looking a bit towards Wimbledon,” Sascha said. “I think I played relatively good grass-court tennis here and good matches. Everything else doesn’t matter at the moment.”

The German is expected to arrive at the All-England Club as the second seed behind Jannik Sinner, following the 2-time SW19 winner Carlos Alcaraz’s absence due to a wrist injury. That gives him another big opportunity at the year’s 3rd Grand Slam.

And despite spending 2 hours and 39 minutes on court in the SF, Zverev remains confident about what lies ahead. “I don’t think there’s any reason to worry heading into Wimbledon.`”

Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz, after breaking Sascha’s 10-match winning streak, will continue his SW19 preparations in style. The American ace is set to face fellow American Frances Tiafoe in a blockbuster ATP 500 Halle final.

Who do you think will come out on top between the two Americans? Share your thoughts below!