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January 10, 2025 6 mins

The ASB Classic singles finals are occupying Auckland today, off the back of Zizou Bergs thrilling three-set win against Nuno Borges yesterday. 

Bergs will take on Frenchman Gaël Monfils who got through in straight sets. 

Tennis commentator and former tennis pro Lee Radovanovic joins the show. 

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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks EDB Let's go to Tennis.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Belgium qualifier Ziezu Bergs will meet French veteran Gaumont Fists
in today's men's singles final at the ASB Tennis Classic.
Bergs advanced to what is his first ATP Tour level
final with a thriller a three set win over Portugal's
new No Borgeous yesterday. Gaumon Fis got through in straight
sets earlier in the day, although he did have a

(00:36):
few nervous moments earlier in the week. The final set
down for two o'clock this afternoon. Former tennis pro and
now tennis commentator and analyst for Sky Sports coverage of
the tournament, Lee Ranovanovich joins us, Lee, can anybody hand
on heart truly say that this is the final they predicted?

Speaker 3 (00:56):
No, absolutely not. You wouldn't have picked it when we
saw the draw, the cutoff of safty eight in the world,
so players to other top We had four big seeds
that a lot of people thought would come through on
paper anyway, So no, no one would have picked this final. However,
I'm excited for it. I've seen both of these guys
play every match this week and they are both on form.

(01:19):
They're both on fire, and it's going to be a
great match. It could be an epic.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
All right, let's analyze them one by one then. What
has allowed thirty eight year old Gal Monfies to make
it all the way through to the final.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
He just wants to play. He doesn't play for the money.
He's got money, he doesn't play for anything else. He
just wants to play and win, and he is in
for a thirty eight year old, he is an amazing
physical condition. The way that he moves around the quarter
is what really impresses me. He's still got all the
shots and his eyes haven't slowed down. But the way
that he can move and turned the fence into attack

(01:55):
through his movement around the quarters, it's pretty our ageous
for a thirty eight year old, and that's how he
can still fit it with the guys, just through his
movement and experience too. He knows how to play the
right shot at the right time and to try to
conserve his energy a little bit.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
We almost lost him, didn't we, In the round of
thirty two behind a set. I think he lost the
first set, sixty one to Spain's Pedro Martinez. He was
down to break in the second. How did he get
out of that hole?

Speaker 3 (02:21):
He was down at six one, five ten, and it
looked like he was going out in the first round.
He was playing pretty awful, to be honest with you,
but he's a streaky player. Mercurial was maybe another way
to describe him. He can be pretty ordinary, and his
body language can be negative, but he has the ability
to find something that flicks the switch to get him
to all of a sudden, go to go from zero

(02:42):
to ten in space of about one game. So he's
got the ability just to turn it on, and in
a couple of key points in that first set he
did turn it on musing his forehand mainly. And he's
built match by match as that's one of that's gone on.
Yesterday in a semi final, he was impressive. I felt
like he played within himself a lot, but that was

(03:02):
probably just a tactical thing. He wasn't too aggressive, didn't
make too many unforced theres, just kind of kept it
cool and calm. So he's got better and better and better.
He'll be formidable today in the final.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
All Right, well, we know a bit about gam on face,
we know less about the man he's facing Belgian qualifiers,
zizu bergs. It give us the broad brush strokes of
him as a tennis player. First of all, ready.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
He's a rollercoaster to the oddest, so he technically really sound.
He's big, he's strong, he's fast, he's got a big serve,
and he hits a heavy ball, so those balls like
coming through pretty quickly on the cord that rushes a
lot of his opponents. He takes away their time and
space by purely by the heaviness of his shot. But
mentally he's a bit up and down. He can play

(03:48):
a great set and he'll follow that up with not
a great set. And we saw that in the quarterfinal.
He was down six two two Mars. He was throwing
his racket, he was getting angry with the umpire, is
frustrated with the noise and the crowd, and he managed
the flips which get a break there in the quarter final,
would come back and win added three sets and played

(04:09):
it was like a totally different player for the back
into the second set, of the third set, and then
the semi final. Yesterday was the total opposite came out
of the blocks. He was on fire. He was aggressive,
hitting winners everywhere. At six two two love, he had
three break points to go three love in the second
but for a double break, so we're doing commetry thinking okay,
this is about to be over, and then he just

(04:30):
fell apart. He allowed boards to get back into the match,
ended up being down a break in the third, starting
to get frustrated. Then he broke back and then he
broke back again four brakes in the third set, and
eventually got back into the third set and had a
great performance. But he made it hard for himself in
terms of he was in winning positions and then he
dropped his bundle, and then he got fought back to

(04:50):
get into winning positions and he dropped his bundle again.
So mentally he's a little bit up and down, but
he could play.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
He's a real player, So you're right, this just feels
like an epic in coming this afternoon. If it goes
to three sets, Lee, it feels as though the younger
man Bergs will have the advantage. Does it feel as
though the first set this afternoon's pretty important?

Speaker 3 (05:10):
I think it always is in a final. Just thinking
about just to get that lead in that scoreboard. Pressure
for Berg it will be a case of can he
handle the occasion. He's come through qualifying, it was his
first semi final, went yesterday, so this is his first
final on an ATP tour and this will do wonders
for his rankings. It'll push him inside the top fifty.

(05:31):
So can he handle the pressure? Can he get in
and compete? Can he just play his best and forget
about the fact that it's the final. That's one thing
I think with mon thesis, just another day at the
office for him. He's been to semi finals of the
French Open, the US Open. He's won at least one
ATP to a tournament every single year for the last
nineteen years, so he'll be ready to go. Believe it

(05:54):
or not, I'm leaning towards the qualifier for a border
line upset in this one.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
All right, Okay, let's wait and see what happens. Right,
great to get your analysis lay right. A Vanovitch there
at former pro real student of the game, have thoroughly
enjoyed his part in the coverage of the ASP Classic,
which wraps up this afternoon. In about twenty five minutes,
they'll be on court as Gail Montfist, the thirty eight

(06:19):
year old takes on the young Belgian zizu Bergs. Apparently
he was named after Zenodine Zidan, who of course is
known as zizu He's not French, he's Belgian, but his
parents are big football fans. Apparently, so zizu Bergs up
against Gaumorphi's two o'clock this afternoon.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk ZEDB weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio
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