Novak Djokovic overcame Zizou Bergs in straight sets at the 2025 Shanghai Masters to advance to a record-extending 80th semi-final at ATP Masters 1000 level.<\/p>\n
The 24-time Grand Slam champion downed Bergs, the world No 44, 6-3, 7-5 in the last eight to reach the semi-finals in Shanghai for a record-extending 10th time in his 11th appearance at the event.<\/p>\n
Djokovic<\/a> has become just the second player after Rafael Nadal<\/a> to reach the semi-finals at multiple Masters events 10 or more times, having made the last four of the Italian Open on 13 occasions.<\/p>\n After what was the pair\u2019s\u00a0first meeting, Bergs suggested to Djokovic at the net that his admiration for the legendary Serb had affected his performance.<\/p>\n \u201cMan, I\u2019ve got to stop idolising you,\u201d the 26-year-old Belgian told Djokovic, before the pair shared a warm embrace.<\/p>\n The perfect 10<\/p>\n Huge respect shown between these competitors as its @DjokerNole<\/a> who prevails 6-3 7-5 over Bergs to reach his tenth Shanghai Semi-Final #RolexShanghaiMasters<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3vLuH1Zvzz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Colin Fleming, a former world No 17 in doubles who now works as a tennis analyst, gave his verdict on Bergs\u2019 comment.<\/p>\n \u201cBergs told the whole story there. \u2018I have got to stop idolising you\u2019, as he walked to the net,\u201d Fleming said on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, that\u2019s slightly bizarre in my opinion. But I get it, playing Djokovic for the first time. I think that tells the story of the match.<\/p>\n Novak Djokovic\u2019s easy Shanghai path clears further in quest for 41st Masters 1000 trophy<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n WATCH: Daniil Medvedev takes dig at Rafael Nadal with favouritism claim in Shanghai rant<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think he just overplayed it (the match) in his own mind. Playing Djokovic for the first time. Physically and in terms of his skill set, he handled it, but he couldn\u2019t sustain the level.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a rollercoaster from him. Entertaining at times, but ultimately costing him in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n Former British No 1 Barry Cowan also gave his reaction to Bergs\u2019 words in his role as a commentator for Tennis TV.<\/p>\n \u201cNice words from Bergs. I mean, you\u2019ve only got to be honest, right? It did feel a bit like that,\u201d Cowan said.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously the biggest match [for Bergs], in terms of the first [Masters] quarter-final, the biggest quarter-final he\u2019s played.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously playing someone like Djokovic but I think there was enough information there for Bergs that he can cause the top guys some damage. It\u2019s just, can he do it over a sustained period \u2014 which we know Djokovic can. Competitive spirit is absolutely still there for Djokovic.\u201d<\/p>\n In an on-court interview with Tennis TV, Djokovic was asked what it has taken him to get to this stage of the tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cPretty much everything, just trying to stay alive to be honest on the court,\u201d said the 38-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst encounter with Bergs, great guy. Obviously a lot of firepower in his game. At times, I just tried to play an extra ball in the court, make him miss the ball. That\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n \u201cI should have closed out the match at 5-4, he played a good game. Again, I was a little bit too passive. Just very challenging conditions these few weeks for all the players and, you know, just trying to stay alive on the court and glad to overcome this hurdle.\u201d<\/p>\n Djokovic, the world No 5, will face 204th-ranked Monegasque qualifier Valentin Vacherot<\/a> in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n READ NEXT: What Novak Djokovic said after health and injury concerns in Shanghai Masters win<\/a> The post Novak Djokovic\u2019s Shanghai opponent\u2019s comment at the net sparks \u2018bizarre\u2019 verdict<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Novak Djokovic overcame Zizou Bergs in straight sets at the 2025 Shanghai Masters to advance to a record-extending 80th semi-final at ATP Masters 1000 level. The 24-time Grand Slam champion downed Bergs, the world No 44, 6-3, 7-5 in the last eight to reach the semi-finals in Shanghai for a record-extending 10th time in his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Tennis News<\/h2>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n