A former World No.16 weighed in on the Zizou Bergs vs. Cristian Garin Davis Cup match, drawing Novak Djokovic into the discussion.
Zizou Bergs collided with Cristian Garin at Davis Cup (Images via Screengrab/X)
Belgium clinched a controversial win in Sunday’s match in the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round tie against Chile, following which former World No.16 Nikoloz Basilashvili brought Novak Djokovic into the discussion. Hosts Belgium were 2-1 after doubles pair Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen‘s win over Nicolas Jarry and Tomas Barrios Vera, following which, Zizou Bergs had the task to take the side to the next round.
But the match he played against Cristian Garin didn’t end in his favor without some drama. Bergs, when the score was tied at 5-5 in the third set, broke Garin’s serve and was on cloud nine. Amidst the loud cheer from the crowd, Bergs leaped up in the air while celebrating didn’t see Garin approaching toward him to return to his bench.
The consequence of his ignorance resulted in a collision. Bergs inadvertently hurt the Chilean ace, who collapsed to the ground in pain. Following this, Garin refused to resume the game and demanded that Bergs should be disqualified from the match. His requests were denied, and as Garin was adamant that he wouldn’t continue, he was handed three code violations, and eventually lost the match.
Georgian tennis ace Basilashvili, who recently gave a walkover to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinal of the Open Occitanie, claimed that had Djokovic been the player in place of Bergs, he would have been defaulted. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was disqualified from the 2020 US Open after he accidentally hit a linesperson with a ball.
Carlos Alcaraz started his season at the Australian Open to achieve the Career Grand Slam, but his hopes were crushed by Novak Djokovic when they met in the quarterfinals. The 10-time Australian Open came from a set down to claim the victory 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to inch closer to his historic 25th Major.
But the Serb himself couldn’t accomplish this goal as a hamstring injury ruined his plans. While he is nursing the injury, Alcaraz landed in Rotterdam to make his debut in the ATP 500 event. Ahead of the tournament, the 21-year-old opened up about the painful exit from the Melbourne Slam.
Following the match, the tennis ace from Spain trails 3-5 in the head-to-head meetings against the Serb. Alcaraz, who is the first seed at the Rotterdam Open, is scheduled to lock horns with Botic van de Zandschulp. The Dutchman is 1-2 against Alcaraz but had defeated the 2021 US Open champion in the second round at Flushing Meadows last year.
