Tennis
In the Rome tournament, Zizou Bergs ultimately had to give up against Rafael Nadal after winning the first set.
Zizou Bergs (ATP 108) was unable to perform against Rafael Nadal in the first round of the Masters 1,000 tournament in Rome on Thursday. The Limburger lost to the Spanish clay king in three sets: 4-6, 6-3 and 6-4. Only after two hours and 53 minutes did Bergs have to bow his head.
The 24-year-old Bergs had qualified for the main table through the qualifications and was presented with a real winner with the 37-year-old Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam winner has dropped to 305th place after a lot of injuries, but has shown flashes of his old level in recent weeks. He hopes to shine one last time at Roland-Garros, the Grand Slam tournament in Paris that he won fourteen times.
Bergs faced Nadal for the first time in his career. He fell behind 3-1 in the first set but immediately broke back and went through Nadal’s serve a second time at 4-4, after which he served out. In set two, Nadal took the lead again after an early break (3-0), which this time he held (6-3). Nadal also broke through Bergs’ serve in the third game of the decisive third set. He had a few more chances to break back, but he couldn’t capitalize on them.
Nadal will play against the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (ATP 9) in his next match. As the seventh seed, he was free in the first round. (blg)
