Unseeded Belgian Zizou Bergs delivered the biggest win of his career with a 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory against No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the third round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Monday.
Ranked No. 39 in the world, Bergs beat the seven-time Grand Slam champion in 2 hours and 3 minutes, overcoming a 5-4 deficit in both sets to advance to the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 event.
He struck nine aces, broke Alcaraz’s serve three times in four chances and compiled a 24-16 advantage in winners.
“This is something that has been very tough for me,” Bergs said, when asked about his record against the tour’s top stars. “I often have too much respect for these guys, which is part of my culture and I’m proud of that. But it gets a little bit in the way when you have to play them. I had a great moment here last year against (Novak) Djokovic where I was definitely playing the name, not the guy.
“The more experience you have practicing against them and playing matches, the more it becomes the new standard a little bit. To have this moment, for me it is a little bit of a relief. I feel like now I really can win against these guys. Not just I can play against them, but I can win against them.”
Bergs, 27, advanced to the fourth round to face 15th-seeded American Tommy Paul, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over defending champion and No. 17 seed Valentin Vacherot of Monaco.
“It’s a little bit of disbelief and also not feeling too much,” Bergs said after his biggest win to date according to opponent ranking. “It’s one of the moments where you don’t really realize what is going on, you’re just really in the moment and being focused on the points you have to play. Now one minute after the match, it is tough to calm down a little bit, but I will be very happy.”
In other third-round action, No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada defeated Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in just under 2 hours. No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Czech qualifier Dalibor Svrcina. Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands upended No. 8 Arthur Fils of France 7-5, 6-4. Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas rallied to eliminate No. 11 Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. No. 20 Casper Ruud of Norway got past No. 14 Learner Tien 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Twelfth-seeded Rafael Jodar made history with a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 comeback win against No. 22 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic. It was the 20-year-old Spaniard’s 40th win of the season and he reached the fourth round at his fifth consecutive ATP 1000 event this season, the youngest to do that since Djokovic in 2007.
–Field Level Media
