Zizou Bergs shocks Taylor Fritz for inaugural Tie Break Tens title in Dubai

Zizou Bergs continued his impressive 2021 season with a dramatic 11-9 win over BNP Paribas Open semifinalist Taylor Fritz to win the inaugural Tie Break Tens Dubai presented by Zone.

“It’s actually unbelievable,” Bergs said. “I didn’t know much about Tie Break Tens—we’re used to playing long matches, which can be a little tense sometimes at the end but this is tense all the time! It’s fantastic for the crowds and a great part of the process of becoming a great tennis player as well.”

Playing at the Coca-Cola Arena, Bergs thrived in the sudden-death format, winning 10-point tiebreakers to defeat both Dustin Brown and world No. 19 Gaël Monfils and book a championship clash with Fritz, who himself is in the midst of a career breakthrough after reaching the final four in the California Desert.

Bergs began the year outside the Top 300 and has moved up over 250 spots in the ATP rankings after capturing three Challenger titles earlier this spring, but this is by far his biggest pay day with AED 500,000 in prize money.

The 22-year-old is also no stranger to time constraints as he's one of the game's most prolific Tik Tok creators, boasting just under 30,000 follwers and 585,000 likes.