Zizou Bergs (ATP 108) failed to achieve the feat against Rafael Nadal (ATP 305) in the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Rome, an event on clay with 7,877,020 euros. The Belgian No.1 was beaten in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours and 53 minutes.
In this first duel against the “Ogre of Ochre”, Bergs lost his serve in the fourth game of the first set. But the Belgian No.1 reacted perfectly and won five of the next six games to win, with style on his set point, the first set.
An interruption of around ten minutes occurred between the two sets because a spectator felt unwell in the stands. On the restart, Nadal went to 3-0, after two shutouts on his serve. Bergs had two break points, at 3-1 and 5-3. Nadal resisted and came back to a set everywhere.
Nadal made the break in the third game of the deciding set. Bergs had three break points to return to 3-3, without success, and the Spaniard validated his victory on his serve in the tenth game. The Limburger had gone through qualifying to play his first Italian Open.
Nadal will meet in the second round (32nd finals) the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, 9th player in the world, exempt from the first round as seeded N.7.
Bergs is 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.
Nadal, holder of the record for victories on Roman clay with ten titles, will face Pole Hubert Hurkacz, world No.9, in the next round.
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