Nick Kyrgios fired a brutal one-word response to Zizou Bergs after the Belgian criticized him in a recent interview as the Australian tennis star just asked “who” was the player talking about him in such a way.
In May, the 25-year-old defeated Maximilian Marterer in the French Open second round to make a Grand Slam third round for the first time in his career but also secure a top-100 ranking.
Moments after sealing a milestone win, the Bergs reacted ecstaticly and yelled at the crowd: “Where is the party!?” The crowd joined in by responding: “The party is here!”
The moment was even posted by the French Open’s official X account and went viral. But Kyrgios didn’t think it was cool or anything like that, slamming the celebration as “lame” – a term used in slang to describe something that is not really entertaining.
This week, the current world No. 73 spoke with CLAY magazine. And one of the questions he received was about the Australian’s shade – but he apparently didn’t notice the post.
“No. What did he say?” the Belgian responded,
Kyrgios reacts to Bergs’ comments
When told about the Australian’s X post from May, Bergs hit back at the 2022 Wimbledon finalist by saying that he knows to criticize but doesn’t know how to accept when the criticism goes his way.
“I barely know him, but I have to say that I like him a lot. He is doing things differently on the court. Saying ‘lame’ is not very nice of him. He can criticize a lot, but when he is criticized, he never takes it well. I am not surprised that he says this (laughs),” the 25-year-old.
In the comment section of CLAY’s Instagram post, Kyrgios wrote: “Who?”
While the former world No. 13 didn’t say much, his reaction was clearly another shade directed at Bergs as this time he insinuated that the Belgian wasn’t someone important for him to bother responding in a bigger way.
What Bergs said about the viral French Open moment?
At Roland Garros this year, the Belgian tennis player first had to win three qualifying matches to secure a main draw place before beating Alejandro Tabilo in the first round. Then, the Marterer match came and two milestones were at stake.
Early in the match, the things weren’t looking the best for Bergs after he found himself down by a set. But then, he impressively bounced back and won 3-6 6-3 6-1 6-3.
Reflecting on his moment with the crowd, the 25-year-old highlighted that he enjoyed their support and that it played a part in his celebration.
“I have to say that the atmosphere at the French Open was amazing. It was so good from the first day of the qualifiers to the last day I was playing there. Surreal. I felt very grateful for that. At Wimbledon there is another atmosphere. It is different and unique. Less noisy, more classic. It was quite funny, because after the French Open, at every tournament I played I heard a lot of people shouting: ‘where is the party?’ Also in an interview on the court after a win in s-Hertogenbosch the presenter asked me at the end. It is very funny that the fans vibrate with me,” Bergs reflected.
Bergs explains why the French like him
For those who don’t know, Zinedine Zidane was one of the best football players in the world in the late 1990s and early 2000s. And he was also from France and was nicknamed “Zizou.”
Since Bergs’ father was a huge Zidane fan, he decided to name his son after one of the greatest French football players. Since everyone in France knows extremely well from where his name came from, that was one of the reasons why he enjoyed such a huge support in Paris.
“First of all, in France I have a bit of an advantage with my name Zizou. So I guess somewhere if you behave well people will be nice to you, and that’s a bit what happened in my match against a French player, at the Suzanne Lenglen with a crazy atmosphere. People were cheering him on, they weren’t booing me, so it was great. If you play against a French player late at night, a lot of people have been drinking… it can go overboard, so I’m not surprised what happened to him (Goffin), especially with the alcohol in the stands. You have to be nice, and hope to play a match not too late,” Bergs explained.
