“This year, I feel like I can go far, until the finalbegins Zizou Bergs. I’m playing and I feel good. There are other good players but I feel ready. I have a little more experience at the high level, and I have reached new levels this season. Tennis, physically and mentally. I feel like I can measure myself against the best in the world. Playing at home, in front of my fans, my friends and my family, it makes me want to surpass myself.”
Beaten in the first round last year, after getting out of qualifying, Alexander Blockx is also delighted to be playing at home: “There are not many tournaments of this level in Belgium, apart from the Louvain-la-Neuve Challenger and therefore Antwerp. These are two weeks where you want to prepare thoroughly to offer your best tennis. Ahead your family and your friends, you have to show the maximum.”
The two players, who live in the Antwerp region, have been working alongside each other for several years. “I helped Alexander at the beginning, when he was still 15 or 16 years olddetails the Belgian n°2. It’s nice to share the court with him again and go a long way together. He has proven in recent times that he can compete with great players. He was still a junior last year, but he is now part of the Belgian team. And he showed that there was his place (Editor’s note: he lost in three sets to the Italian Matteo Berrettini in the Davis Cup in mid-September).”
European Open – “The confidence is there” for Zizou Bergs, who shows ambition before Antwerp
A pure product of Tennis Vlaanderen, Blockx grew up watching Bergs perform at a high level. “I’ve been here since I was eight or nine years old. I always saw Zizou as a role model, because there weren’t many players with such great potential. His example showed me that it was possible, and it gave me extra motivation. There is a difference in the rankings that prevents us from playing the same tournaments at the moment, which makes the desire to imitate him even stronger.”
gullI have to prove that I have my place in the top 100.
Regarding his season, the eldest believes he has had a great year in 2024.”I have been knocking on the door of the top 100 for a long time, but I have been stopped several times due to injuries. Now I have to prove that I belong there. There has been a lot of progress and this gives me good prospects for next season.”
For his part, for his first year on the professional circuit, the current 224th in the world experienced turbulence. “Especially at the start of the year, with Australia and then Louvain-la-Neuve. I lost a few matches in a row, sometimes close. But from February and March, things started to get better with one or the other semi-final. Unfortunately, there was this injury in South Koreawhich left me sidelined for three months. This period was not easy. The clay court tour that followed wasn’t too bad, I think. Overall, it’s not such a bad year. I had the opportunity to play quite a few games, and that was the priority objective after having had a lot of growing pains in previous years.”
The nugget Alexander Blockx far behind Xavier Malisse at the same age, very close to Olivier Rochus, and above all well ahead of all the others
In terms of ambitions, Zizou Bergs, 25, is aiming for the top… 10 in the world within a few years! “I’m aware of how hard and smart I’m going to have to work, but I believe in it. David Goffin is the perfect example: he was not the greatest talent among juniors but he got there. At this level, I am not Belgian. I try to be ambitious and believe in myself.”
Alexander Blockx, at 19 years old, is more moderate. “I just try to win as many matches as possible. To thus reach the highest possible position. As Zizou says with David, it’s a very good example. I think you just always have to do your best. And ultimately, as long as you can say at the end of your career that you did everything and gave everything, that’s the most important thing.”
Give everything in Antwerp next week so as not to regret anything. This is the next mission for the Belgian players.
European Open 2024: Bergs, Collignon and Blockx at the Antwerp tournament in mid-October
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