Germany's Alexander Zverev acknowledges the crowd after losing to United States' Taylor Fritz during their semifinal match at the ATP German Open tennis tournament in Halle, Germany | Photo Credit: AP

French Open champion Alexander Zverev said a malfunctioning glucose sensor left him ​feeling unwell during his Halle Open semi-final defeat ‌by Taylor Fritz on Saturday.

Zverev, who came ​into the match with a ⁠poor recent record against the American after losing their previous six meetings, lost 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 in ‌a contest lasting two hours and 39 minutes.

“I had huge problems with ‌the sugar because the sensor I ‌use ⁠gave me a completely incorrect reading. It ⁠indicated very high values when they were actually low, so I injected much more insulin than I ​should have,” the world ‌number three said after the match.

“During the match, or rather during the first 45 minutes, I had to consume about 350 ‌grams of sugar. I felt absolutely terrible.”

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Despite ​the setback, Zverev said Fritz deserved the victory.

“Nevertheless, I fought, gave it ⁠my all, and in the end, it must also be acknowledged that Taylor (Fritz) deserved the ‌win. He played better than me today.” The German, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of four, uses Medtronic technology to help regulate his glucose levels and support his diabetes management ‌on and off the court.

“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,” he said.

Zverev added that the ‌issue was not a concern ahead of Wimbledon, which runs from June 29 to ​July 12.

Published on Jun 21, 2026