Zizou Bergs

Zizou Bergs (; born 3 June 1999) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 49, achieved on 19 May 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 265, achieved on 27 November 2023. He is currently the No. 1 player from Belgium.

Early life

Bergs was born in Lommel. His parents named him Zizou after French football player Zinedine Zidane, whose nickname is Zizou.

Professional

2020: ATP Tour debut and first win

Bergs made his ATP main draw debut as a wildcard at the 2020 European Open. In the first round, he recorded his first ATP victory by defeating Albert Ramos Viñolas in straight sets, before pushing world No. 17 Karen Khachanov to three sets in the second round.

2021: Three ATP Challenger titles, top 200 debut

In March 2021, Bergs won his first Challenger title at Saint Petersburg. Later that month, he won his second Challenger title at Lille. In June, he won his third Challenger title at Almaty.

After defeating fellow qualifier Oscar Otte in the first round of the Swiss Open Gstaad, he reached the top 200 at World No. 196 on 26 July 2021. In October, he again received a wildcard into the European Open, but lost in the first round to Lloyd Harris.

2022: Fourth Challenger title, major & top 150 debuts

Bergs reached his first final of the season at the Saint-Brieuc Challenger, losing to Jack Draper. In May, he reached his second Challenger final of the season at the Saturn Oil Open in Troisdorf, Germany, where he lost to Lukáš Klein.

Ranked No. 207, he won the Ilkley Trophy as a qualifier, defeating lucky loser Alexei Popyrin in the semifinals and Jack Sock in the final. As a result, he received a wildcard into Wimbledon, where he made his Grand Slam debut. He also climbed more than 60 positions up the rankings to a new career-high of world No. 146 on 20 June 2022.

2023: United Cup, Masters & top 125 debuts

At the inaugural 2023 United Cup, Bergs lost his two singles matches against Bulgarian Dimitar Kuzmanov and Greek Stefanos Sakellaridis. He then qualified for the main draw at the Australian Open, defeating another Bulgarian, Adrian Andreev, but lost in the first round to Laslo Djere.

He received a wildcard for the Miami Open, but lost in the first round to lucky loser Thanasi Kokkinakis. He entered the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships as a lucky loser directly into the second round, but lost to Cristian Garín. As the defending champion, he entered the Ilkley Trophy Challenger, but lost to Denis Kudla in the second round.

Bergs missed several months playing on the ATP Tour, due to a torn ligament in his left wrist, but returned in September at the Chengdu Open as a wildcard.
In October, he received a wildcard in doubles for the European Open in Antwerp, alongside compatriot Tibo Colson.
In November, at the Calgary Challenger, he reached the quarterfinals and won his sixth Challenger title in Drummondville, and in December, his seventh in Yokkaichi.

2024: French Open debut, top 65

In April, Bergs won his first match of the season on the ATP Tour in Houston, defeating qualifier Patrick Kypson in the first round, before losing to top seed and eventual champion Ben Shelton in the second round. Bergs then reached back-to-back finals on the ATP Challenger Tour, in Sarasota where he lost to Thanasi Kokkinakis and in Tallahassee where he defended his title and defeated Mitchell Krueger to win his eighth Challenger title.

He received a wildcard for the main draw at the Madrid Open, where he made his debut but lost in the first round to Luca Van Assche.
In May, Bergs qualified for the main draw of the Italian Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in the first round.
Ranked No. 102, Bergs made his French Open debut after qualifying for the main draw. He upset 24th seed Alejandro Tabilo for his first win at a Major and defeated Maximilian Marterer to reach the third round of a Major for the first time where he lost to 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov. As a result, he reached the top 85 in the rankings on 10 June 2024.

In the beginning of the grass court season he entered the main draw of the Rosmalen Open as a lucky loser and defeated local wildcard Tim van Rijthoven, before losing to top seed Alex de Minaur in the second round. He also entered the main draw at the Wimbledon after qualifying but lost to Arthur Cazaux in five sets with a super tiebreaker in the fifth. As a result he reached the top 75 in the singles rankings on 15 July 2024.

At the US Open, Bergs also played a first round match with a super tiebreaker in the fifth, but won it this time defeating Pavel Kotov. He lost his next match against 31st seed Flavio Cobolli.
In October, Bergs reached the quarterfinals at the European Open in Antwerp with wins over Facundo Díaz Acosta and fourth seed Sebastián Báez, before his run was ended by eighth seed Marcos Giron. The following month, ranked No. 61, Bergs also made it through to the quarterfinals at the Moselle Open, defeating lucky loser Manuel Guinard and Hugo Gaston. Bergs lost in the last eight to Cameron Norrie.

2025: Maiden ATP Tour final and top 10 win, top 50

In January, Bergs reached his maiden ATP Tour final as a qualifier at the 2025 ASB Classic with wins over Pablo Carreño Busta, Francisco Comesaña, Isaac Becroft, Luca Nardi, Roberto Carballés Baena, and seventh seed Nuno Borges. As a result Bergs reached the top 60 in the rankings on 13 January 2025. He lost to Gaël Monfils in straight sets in the championship match.

In February, Bergs reached his second career semifinal at the 2025 Open 13 Provence in Marseille, with wins over eight seed Nuno Borges and Zhizhen Zhang by retirement.

In March, at the 2025 Miami Open, Bergs reached the third round recording his first top 10 win over eight seed Andrey Rublev. As a result he reached the top 50 on 31 March 2025.

In June, Bergs reached his second career ATP final at the 2025 Libéma Open in 's-Hertogenbosch with a win over fourth seed Alexei Popyrin in the second round, Mark Lajal in the quarterfinals, and Reilly Opelka in the semifinal. He lost to Gabriel Diallo in the final.

National Representation

At the 2025 Davis Cup qualifiers stage, Bergs struck his rival Cristian Garín (Chile) with his shoulder on his eye while celebrating a point, knocking him down. According to the Chilean team doctor, this caused him "''swelling, vision difficulties, nausea, and a severe headache''". Bergs was not defaulted, but given a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. As Garín was unfit to continue playing, and after a quick and controversial assessment by the neutral doctor (a Belgian doctor), umpire Ramos gave him three consecutive time violations, thus ending the match. After the match, the Chile Tennis Federation officially requested to the International Tennis Federation a reversal of the match result, a rescheduling of the decisive fifth match to a later date and an automatic wildcard entry into the Davis Cup Finals, as well as an internal revision of umpire Ramos actions and decisions.

Performance timeline

Singles

''Current through the 2025 French Open.''

ATP Tour finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

ATP Challenger Tour finals

Singles: 12 (8 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

ITF Futures/World Tour finals

Singles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Doubles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Wins over top 10 players

*Bergs has a () record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

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References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergs, Zizou
1999 births
Living people
Belgian male tennis players
Olympic tennis players for Belgium
Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Lommel
Sportspeople from Neerpelt
21st-century Belgian sportsmen