Alexander Zverev thanks his mother Irina after his US Open victory

How close the family ties are with the Zverevs can be seen at every international tennis tournament. Alexander Zverev is doing his work down on the pitch, while his father Alexander Mikhailovich and brother Mischa are watching him upstairs. One acts as his trainer, the other as his manager.

So you might think that now that Alexander Zverev is doing his job phenomenally in the later years of his professional career, the focus would be on his close relationship with the other two tennis stars in his family. But after the 6:3, 7:6 (7:2), 5:7, 6:2 in the final of the US Open against the American Ben Shelton, Alexander Zverev thanked one person in particular: his mother Irina.

He paid tribute to her in emotional words: “I would like to thank a person, someone who never watches my games, but who is the most important person in my tennis life and in my life in general,” explained the 29-year-old. “Because when your four-year-old son is diagnosed with diabetes and the doctors tell you that this child’s life and sporting opportunities will be severely limited, then it takes an incredibly strong mother.” She said: "Do what you want to do. Diabetes will not define us."

Insulin syringe set

In fact, the illness couldn't stop him from achieving top performance. At the French Open in Paris, where he won his first of two Grand Slam titles this year, he took an insulin injection in the third set of the final. He finally won over the Italian Flavio Cobolli 6:1, 4:6, 6:4, 6:7, 6:1. Doctors afterwards spoke about the victory in the heat and the diabetes as a true heroic act.