ROLAND GARROS

May 30, 2024

Zizou Bergs

Press Conference

Z. BERGS/M. Marterer

3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Zizou, congratulations. You didn't play last year. It's your first main draw, and you're in the third round. Can you tell us about with your thoughts right now and how happy you are?

ZIZOU BERGS: I'm very happy, but also very tired at this moment. It's been a long day.

Yeah, I don't know. The feelings today are a little bit different than after my first round. I feel like more that I'm in a tournament, no matter the tournament is. I feel like more, yeah, just here and now. Not thinking a lot about -- even though I know I'm for sure top 100 and stuff, I'm just in the moment I would say.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I wanted to actually ask you about that. Obviously you've talked a lot about how much of a dream it was to reach the top 100. Does it feel different than you thought it would feel, and how does it feel in general?

ZIZOU BERGS: I think this moment has been getting there for a while now, that I have been knocking on that door. Now for sure it's going to happen, but somewhere I just feel like the focus now is on getting further and not much on breaking into top 100, but I'm sure when the moment, I will get home with all friends and family, and we will enjoy this moment so much because it's something that has been there since I'm conscious about tennis. I'm 100% sure we will enjoy this moment really hard.

Q. I'm curious just in general, what do you attribute your progress this year and the way you've been able to break through? What do you attribute it to, and what has changed for you?

ZIZOU BERGS: I do feel like it's been not an easy path for me. I feel like I've been called a talent since I was young, and I got some momentum, which got interrupted by certain physical issues.

I think definitely with that top 100, I think the first time I got blocked a little bit was with an abdominal tear in 2021 or '22 after Davis Cup. You know, I was 120. I got into a main draw up to Basilashvili, and I injured myself, so I was out.

I needed a while to come back, and I think this is a little bit of the story of me getting momentum, get a little bit broken with a certain injury.

But, yeah, now there is no injury stopping me. I mean, even before Roland Garros starting, I got really nervous because I got pretty sick, and I even texted my agent, Oh, no, you have to be kidding me, that I won't be fit again. So many things sometimes getting close.

Now I just feel like I manage. I managed to play through illness. I managed to play through small injuries, and I feel like all these small injuries now are making me a better player. Especially last year with being out four months with my wrist, learning a lot about tennis, playing months with only slice, and the moment I was fit, I managed to be a consistent player. This is definitely something that is going to help you to get into that top 100 and to hopefully stay there as well.

Q. Mentally how do you manage those injuries and mentally remain on the path knowing that you'll get to where you want to go to?

ZIZOU BERGS: I think I'm just very blessed with the lifestyle I have. I always feel like an athlete, even though if I'm injured or not. I just enjoy the process of getting better. For me a rehab is also getting better and feeling progress from day in to day out.

Sometimes obviously it's with ups and downs. If you have a little setback, it's hard to accept, but in the end I really enjoy waking up with a goal and going to sleep with that goal. That's what, for sure, is going to help me getting through injuries as well.

It would be awesome if I come back always stronger after an injury, but this one was really strong coming back from that one.

Q. Just, finally, just on the match today. You said you're feeling tired. How did you manage to kind of overcome that? Just how do you feel you've been playing in the tournament in general?

ZIZOU BERGS: Yeah, I think I'm really happy with that rain break today because he was really comfortable. He was playing well. After that rain delay I said to my coaches, Something is not right. He is too comfortable, and I have to change something.

We talked about it, and we found a solution on it. I came back really strong, managed to integrate all of that, which was really nice for me to get a change of momentum. But during the match I wasn't feeling tired. It was just, like, I want to win it, and that is what was luckily going on.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Zizou, the match was in two parts really. It wasn't easy for you because you prepared for a certain type of play, and then you had to change it. How do you do that? I know you had a break for rain, but you still have to apply these things on the court, don't you?

ZIZOU BERGS: Well, after the first delay I think it was easier for me because I lost something, and I really had to find a solution to that. So maybe I ended up with more energy than my opponent because I really wanted to change things and to turn the score around.

So I feel good with my score. I'm up one set. I rebroke, so I was feeling pretty comfortable in the second set. But for me in the second set I had a certain mindset, and I thought, okay, let's see what happens.

That's why the second delay was a little more difficult because you win a break in the fourth set and then I thought mentally he hit stronger than he did before because with this new momentum, I felt that things had switched around, but I still had something to lose.

So I'm happy I managed to stay calm. I'm glad that I felt better towards the end of the match, especially since it was a break.

Q. Do you realize that you just won five consecutive matches at Roland Garros? Sometimes that's all you need to win a tournament or to go up in a Grand Slam.

ZIZOU BERGS: That's so funny. That's what my coach said. He said, Can you imagine that you just won five games? You never play a final; you win a final. So let's see.

Q. Can you say a few words on Grigor Dimitrov, your next opponent?

ZIZOU BERGS: Well, I haven't had time to really analyze him yet, but when I do, I'll see what he does on clay because I've only seen him play on television so far. So I've seen him at the United Cup. It was pretty impressive, I must say.

In reality, these type of players, well, it's just different. So I'm really lucky to be able to play such a great player, and I will be ready for him. If you analyze Grigor, you can really find good opportunities when you play against him.

Q. I am French, so I'm sorry, my dear Belgian colleagues probably know why I'm here, because I'm French and your name is Zizou. Please explain why your name is Zizou. French people here don't necessarily know why.

ZIZOU BERGS: Obviously it's thanks to the amazing Zinedine Zidane. My mom always thought that I was going to be a girl actually, so she didn't have any ultrasounds or anything. Suddenly I was born, and I was a boy. My dad was a football player, and everybody had a nickname, such as Belay or Maradona, and his nickname was actually Zizou. So my dad had this wonderful idea to call me Zizou.

I must say that it's great in France. As a kid you have a very special name, and you don't know what happens at school. If you are a little different and have a different name, things are not that easy, but now every time I come back to France for a challenger tournament or anything, people are just a little nicer to me because of my name. That's really great.

Q. And your mom was okay with that?

ZIZOU BERGS: Well, I don't know about at the beginning, but I guess she was in the end.

Q. And do you like Zinedine Zidane?

ZIZOU BERGS: I was a tiny little kid back then, and the very last memory I have of Zizou was the World Cup. I must say, I wasn't really following football when I was little, but then again I'm from Belgium, and in Belgium we love football, especially with ECA, et cetera, so it's really nice.

Q. One question for you about the conditions. Does it impact your game because it's really humid, a lot of rain? Do you try to play more like spin, flat? Does it change something in your game?

ZIZOU BERGS: If you play five matches in French Open and day-to-day circumstances change. I guess you're starting to be ready for everything, even during the match. The sun comes out; oh, the ball bounces higher. You know, you can do different stuff.

So day-by-day you have to adapt all the time, your game style. Some days this is working a little bit more. The other day it doesn't work. Some qually matches the spin worked really well, being aggressive worked really well. First round main draw, it's windy, it's cold, and nothing of that is working.

I need a lot of time to get adapted again, but now I start to be more conscious. Okay, it's a little bit colder. It's going to be more like that. So I'm more prepared than maybe during the first round of cold where I felt like. If it was not a good day as this day, then I would feel like I'm playing bad, but now I just realize it's more about the conditions, and I will have to deal with it.