Zizou Bergs audits his rise against Sinner’s baseline mastery
The Belgian’s string of Top 5 tests transforms pressure into progress, as he readies for Jannik Sinner on the Paris Masters’ swift indoor courts, dissecting each elite clash like a personal performance review.
In the high-stakes whirl of the ATP Tour’s late-season swing, Zizou Bergs has turned fleeting encounters with the elite into a deliberate rhythm of self-assessment. At 26, the Belgian faces his third Top 5 opponent in four weeks, a gauntlet that forges his game amid the roar of packed arenas. This sequence—clashing with the sport’s giants on varied surfaces—tests not just his strokes but his evolving mindset, positioning each match as a benchmark for the climb ahead.
Chasing elite benchmarks through recent battles
After tangling with Carlos Alcaraz in Tokyo’s outdoor humidity, where long rallies demanded relentless retrieval, Bergs shifted to Shanghai’s indoor pace against Novak Djokovic. The 6-3, 7-5 defeat there exposed tight margins, like the point where Djokovic blocked four overhead smashes to swing momentum, a sequence replayed in Bergs’s mind under the arena’s glaring lights. Now at the Paris Masters, he confronts Jannik Sinner, eyeing the event’s quicker hard courts to blend slice backhands with crosscourt redirects, probing for disruptions in the Italian’s rhythm.
Bergs, who has risen to a career-high No. 39 this season before settling at No. 41, views these matchups as vital tryouts. His path from eight Challenger titles since 2021 to ATP finals in Auckland and ‘s-Hertogenbosch has built a foundation of steady progress, free from the burnout of early peaks. He welcomes the underdog fire, using it to fuel one–two combinations that shorten points on the low-bouncing indoor surface.
“When you see the draw and you can play Sinner in round two, you obviously really want to go to round two,” Bergs told ATPTour.com ahead of his campaign in Paris. “To have another tryout moment to see what the level is like right now and where I have to go. The past weeks have been quite amazing.”
“The path for everyone is different. I’m 26 this year and I feel like I’m only just getting on Tour. it’s just amazing to see because two, three years ago, all those guys were already there and I was still in Challengers. So to play them now a few times [in the] past month is something very valuable for me, but also for the people around me.”
Late breakthrough sharpens mental resilience
The freshness of Bergs’s ascent at 26 injects an unjaded energy into his preparations, where expectations remain light compared to those who surged young. He embraces the freedom to err and iterate, prioritizing long-term gains over instant glory, a stance that shields him from the pitfalls of rapid rises to the Top 20 or Top 10. In Paris, this translates to tactical tweaks like deeper underspin returns to counter Sinner’s flat groundstrokes, turning potential deficits into probing opportunities amid the crowd’s building tension.
Post-Shanghai, Bergs shared an Instagram video breaking down key moments—grimacing at lapses, joking through the frustration—that captured his authentic processing of high-pressure play. He insists these reviews stem from a deep belief in his chances, even against icons, driving him to refine patterns like inside-out forehands that exploit indoor speed. Fans connect with this openness, a rare glimpse into the psychological grind that echoes through the venue’s confined acoustics.
“It was a lot of fun, but also my way to show how I feel about those matches because maybe for a lot of them it feels like it’s normal you lose against Novak, but in those matches, I really believe I can win,” said Bergs. “Then I will always look back to the matches to see where I could improve, and there are some moments where I feel like ‘Oh, no, you can’t miss like that’. I love to show that as well.”
“I feel like you have a lot of benefits because you feel new, you feel energetic,” Bergs said of his late breakthrough. “The expectations are maybe less than when you have won a lot and you put extra pressure on yourself. I feel like that’s different. I’m okay still to fail a lot as long as I keep improving and at the end of the career keep progressing. This is what I like. I would hate to go really fast to Top 20, Top 10 and then fall out of it. I know I would never go back. I would love to, as I do now, make steps in the rankings every year as well as in the level and I hope to continue on that way.”
CEO approach optimizes on- and off-court growth
Bergs casts himself as the CEO of his athletic enterprise, methodically optimizing every element from serve placement to recovery routines. This mindset extends to ATP programs like the Mentoring and Business Education initiatives, where insights from former players and experts hone his competitive edge and personal development. He dives into these resources eagerly, aligning them with the demands of his Top 5 Tour, where indoor conditions in Paris amplify the need for varied spins to unsettle Sinner’s baseline dominance.
On court, this entrepreneurial drive manifests in expressive play—jump smashes and fist pumps that entertain while sustaining his focus through grueling exchanges. Bergs balances serenity with flair, adapting to the mood as down-the-line winners pierce the tension, drawing roars from the stands. His willingness to share emotions fosters deeper fan engagement, turning solitary battles into shared narratives of perseverance.
“By doing this, I feel like it’s also becoming a better place for me to work on a lot of different stuff that has to improve. it’s being a little bit your own CEO of your own company,” said Bergs. “The company is called ‘Zizou Bergs, the athlete’. How can we optimise everything and all those things? That is something I really love to do.”
“I just feel so connected to the values,“ Bergs said. ”I’m very eager to learn new stuff and that’s definitely a side where I like to develop as well. I feel like all the things that ATP is offering us to do next to the tennis court, I’m taking it right away to develop as a person.” “I like showing emotions,” said Bergs. “If I feel like I’m going to be a little bit more serene, I can be. I can be very loving on the outside of the court, then on the court, I can be someone who really enjoys these jump smashes and all the big shots, being an entertainer. I feel like the entertainer part is always there, it just depends on the mood.”
As the Paris Masters intensifies under its bright lights, Bergs’s sequence of elite audits promises not just survival but sparks of disruption, where tactical nuance meets unfiltered drive to etch his name deeper into the tour’s fabric.
