The least we can say is that his start to the season follows this logic with a small defeat in eight matches. Beaten with honors in the second round of the Hong Kong tournament by Arthur Fils (ATP 20), he had to fight to get a place in the Auckland final. In six matches, including qualifying matches, he lost the first set three times, which did not prevent him from staying alive even though he was two points from elimination in the first round of qualifying.
His victory in the night against Nuno Borges remains the most striking. The fifth most beautiful victory of his career, if we only take into account the ranking, it seemed to be reaching out to him when he led 6-2, 2-0 but he then had to prove that he had mental resources. Indeed, after losing six of the next seven games, and therefore the second set, he managed to regain control to lead 4-2 in the last set. Here again, the 36-year-old Portuguese used his experience to pick up and find himself two points from the match, on his serve. Determined, Bergs ultimately didn’t give up and deserved his heartfelt cry after winning this superb victory.
From now on, it is another veteran of the circuit, Gaël Monfils (ATP 52) who will face him on the night of Friday to Saturday. Better ranked but above all much more experienced at this level, the Frenchman will be the natural favorite for a final in which he participates having lost only one set on the way. Despite everything, Bergs proved in New Zealand that he knew how to manage this outsider status.
A promising continuation of the season
Whatever happens, Bergs will clearly be able to benefit from this week to build up his confidence for the rest of the season. This Monday, in the event of defeat, he will still rise to 60th place in the world, a position just above the best he had ever reached in his career. And if he were to win the title, he would even take 54th place in the world, just ahead of a certain David Goffin.
And what happens next could also prove positive for the Belgian number 2. Eliminated in the last two years in the first round of the Australian Open after coming out of qualifying, Bergs will, this time, be a slight favorite in the first round against the Argentinian Facundo Diaz Acosta (ATP 78), beaten in the quarter-finals in Auckland …by Monfils. A second round against Francisco Cerundolo (ATP 31) or Alexander Bublik (ATP 33) is therefore totally possible. But first, he will have to concentrate on his first ATP final where he could really change dimension.
“It’s pretty incredible”: Zizou Bergs will play his first final in Auckland against a former top 10
