The day after a victory in three sets and more than two hours against the American Patrick Kypson (ATP 150), Bergs managed to dominate his 19-year-old opponent. For this, the Belgian No.1 managed a break in the very first game of the match and maintained this lead in the first set. In the second set, he again quickly took a break in advance (2-1) before losing his serve (3-3). In the decisive game, he came back even though he was trailing 2/5.
In the first round of the final draw, Zizou Bergs could face the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who benefits from his protected ranking despite his current 305th rank. Two other veterans, the French Gaël Monfils (ATP 38) and the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (ATP 87), are also among the twelve potential opponents of Bergs.
Zizou Bergs will be the only Belgian in the final draw of the Roman tournament, the last Masters 1000 before Roland-Garros. David Goffin (ATP 114) skipped this one, after withdrawing from the Aix-en-Provence Challenger last week.
Two weeks ago, Bergs (24 years old) was eliminated in the first round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. He had benefited from an invitation after his victory at the Challenger 75 in Tallahassee, Florida, and the final lost in Sarasota a week earlier, still in Florida.
A prestigious match against Nadal
Zizou Bergs will face Rafael Nadal in the first round of the Masters 1,000 tennis tournament in Rome, the organizers announced on Tuesday, shortly after the Belgian N.1 qualified for the final table.
Bergs, 108th player in the world, qualified for the main draw of the Italian Open on Tuesday thanks to his 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Chinese Juncheng Shang (ATP 105) in the 2nd and final round qualifier. The subsequent draw gave him a prestigious duel against Nadal, today 305th in the ATP, who benefits from his protected ranking. The ‘Bull of Manacor’ has won the tournament played on the clay court of the Foro Italico ten times, the last time in 2021.
Nadal came to Rome to “consolidate the progress” shown between Barcelona, his resumption tournament after a forced three-month break (elimination in the 2nd round), and Madrid where he fell in the round of 16. The Roman tournament should allow him to decide whether or not he will appear in his garden at Roland-Garros (May 26-June 9) where he will only play if he feels “ready enough”.
This will be the first duel between Bergs, 24, and Nadal, 37. The winner will meet the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, 9th in the world and seeded N.7, in the second round.
Greet Minnen immediately eliminated by Diana Shnaider
Greet Minnen was eliminated in the first round of the WTA 1,000 tennis tournament in Rome, a clay court event worth $5,509,771, on Tuesday in Italy. Minnen, 76th player in the world, lost 6-2, 6-3 to Russian Diana Shnaider (WTA 62). The meeting lasted 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Minnen lost his serve twice in the first set, failing to threaten Shnaider on his serve. In the second set, the Russian broke in the first game. Minnen broke immediately. Minnen missed an opportunity to take his opponent’s serve at 1-2 and lost his at 3-3. She immediately had a 4-4 ball, but Shnaider pushed her away. Minnen rejected two match points before giving in.
It was the first clash between the two players. Shnaider will meet in the second round her compatriot Liudmila Samsonova, 17th in the world and exempt from the first round as seeded N.15.
Elise Mertens (WTA 30/N.27) is also automatically qualified for the second round. She will face the Czech Katerina Siniakova (WTA 36) or the Italian Nuria Brancaccio (WTA 292). Mertens will also play doubles with Taiwanese Hsieh Su-Wei.
