Ties that connect this tennis superstar with the ill-fated former AFL No.1 pick

“But I would say that I don’t necessarily know or think that I would be better off without diabetes.

“I think it’s part of my life. I am who I am these days, and maybe that helped me. Like I said, I had to grow up faster. I had to know what’s good for me and what’s bad for me.”

“I’ve been pushing my limits a little bit, also maybe a little bit more because of the stubbornness that I have as well. I’m not unhappy about anything.”

“I was diagnosed over 24 years ago and I feel like diabetes 24 years ago and diabetes now are very, very different, right?

“A lot of doctors, a lot of specialists, back then were suggesting professional sports with diabetes, it was like an impossible thing. It wasn’t something that was very, very common. But luckily for me, I had a very stubborn mother and she basically said, ‘My son wants to do something, we’re going to do it,’ and we’re not going to be … limited by this disease.”

He pointed out that Nacho Fernandez, one of Spain’s top soccer players, and other gold medal-winning Olympians also had type 1 diabetes.

“I’ve always felt that you can do anything with diabetes and if you’re managing it right and you’re in control, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be professional.”

The pump, which can be worn on the body to regulate insulin levels, has been beneficial in managing diabetes for Zverev and former AFL player Paddy McCartin. The Medtronic pumps — which cost $8,000 and last four years — are useful in training and in life, but they can’t be worn to matches.

McCartin, like Zverev, was diagnosed at a young age but was not deterred by diabetes.

McCartin’s career, which began at St Kilda as a No.1 draft pick and ended playing alongside his brother Tom at the Swans, has been interrupted by several concussions.

He does not believe there is any connection between the diabetes and the concussions he suffered.

“There were never any marks for it. I think it was just a fluke and I was a bit unlucky,” he said.

“I would definitely look into it. It would be stupid not to, with the amount I had.”

McCartin, like Zverev, was very private about diabetes for a long time in his career, but when he arrived at the Swans he was encouraged to tell the players. It helped that Tom was there with him when he did it, but he felt it was cathartic.