‘Djoker’ on his way to a fifth title?
Belgian Zizou Bergs faces a particularly difficult task against Novak Djokovic: Following the injury-enforced withdrawal of world number one Carlos Alcaraz and the retirement of second favorite Jannik Sinner during the tournament, the Serb is now the hottest candidate for the Shanghai Masters title. Read our preview of the quarterfinal in the Chinese port city to find out why Zizou Bergs could be worth backing against Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic is the record winner of the tournament, which has been held annually since 2009, with four titles. In the last edition, he was defeated by Jannik Sinner, but the South Tyrolean had to withdraw from the current edition of the penultimate Masters of the year due to physical problems.
The “Djoker” is now the clear favorite against the Limburg native, who has been playing professionally since 2018 and is coached by Kristof Vliegen. However, in the match between Zizou Bergs and Novak Djokovic, we are predicting that the underdog will win at least one set.
Zizou Bergs – Novak Djokovic Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The duel between the pro from Lommel, who owes his first name to the nickname of French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane, and the 2024 Olympic champion is taking place for the first time. Unsurprisingly, the odds for the premiere of Zizou Bergs vs. Novak Djokovic clearly favor the 24-time Grand Slam winner.
Zizou Bergs – Novak Djokovic Tip
Even though Djokovic is only in the quarterfinals of the Masters in Shanghai, the Serb’s fifth victory at the tournament in China is on the cards. There are hardly any big names left in the field, which means the path to another title appears to be clear for him. With Bergs, he is not facing an opponent who is likely to cause him any major difficulties.
The Belgian has only won tournaments on the Challenger Tour and is ranked 44th in the world. Furthermore, Bergs is an all-round player and not a proven hard court specialist. He has only recorded one victory against a player from the top ten in the world rankings, when he beat Andrey Rublev, then ranked ninth, at this year’s Miami Open.
On the other hand, Djokovic, who took a month’s break from playing after the US Open, appears somewhat rusty at the Masters in Shanghai. In the last two rounds, “Nole” only managed to beat absolute outsiders such as Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, who is ranked in the triple digits in the world rankings, after three sets.
Given this situation, the Zizou Bergs vs. Novak Djokovic betting odds for the Belgian to win a set look promising. By reaching the quarterfinals, he has already achieved a major success, as he has never before reached this stage in his career at a Masters tournament. He can therefore play freely, and his current stable form was already evident at this year’s US Open a few weeks ago, when Bergs also reached the third round for the first time.
