"Garin got popped a little bit" – Andy Roddick weighs in on Davis Cup controversy between Cristian Garín and Zizou Bergs
ATP
The Davis Cup tie between Chile and Belgium featured several intense battles, but one incident between Cristian Garín and Zizou Bergs has dominated the discussion following the match.
The match was closely contested, going down to the wire, but what happened after Bergs' crucial break of serve in the third set has been the main talking point.
The incident
As stated before, it was a tight battle between Garín and Bergs, with both players giving everything on the court. At 5-5 in the third set, Bergs hit a sensational shot to break Garín's serve. The Belgian player ran to his bench in celebration but collided with Garín.
Garín fell to the ground and received medical attention for his injuries, but he ultimately refused to continue playing. This led to a series of time violations and penalties, resulting in Bergs being awarded the victory.
The Chilean Tennis Federation expressed its frustration with the decision and released an official statement.
"The Chilean Tennis Federation expresses its deep consternation and rejection of the events that occurred during the Davis Cup series played against Belgium this Sunday, February 2, 2025, in Hasselt, valid for the first round of the World Group Qualifiers."
"In that instance, our player Cristian Garin was attacked by Zizou Bergs and, incomprehensibly and unacceptably, ended up being disqualified, which meant the defeat of our country by 3-1."
The statement also criticised the match officials and medical response:
"After being hit by the Belgian player, Cristian did not receive due attention from the neutral doctor appointed by the organisation."
"Despite this situation, the general referee, Mr Carlos Ramos, from Portugal, validated the continuity of the match and urged our player to return to the match. However, as he was unable to do so due to dizziness and inflammation in his eye, he was disqualified."
The Chilean Federation confirmed that it would take further action with the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Andy Roddick’s take on the controversy
Many figures in tennis have reacted to the incident, including former world number one Andy Roddick, who gave his thoughts on his podcast, Served.
Andy Roddick questioned whether Bergs should have been celebrating so close to his opponent but also suggested that Garín might have been playing for a default.
"[Zizou] Bergs, should he have been hopping through there when it was crowded?" he said.
"No."
Roddick also raised doubts about Garín's decision to stay down after the collision.
"[Cristian] Garin got popped a little bit, but here's where I am," he said.
"If I get popped a little bit and am Garin, maybe it's bad, whatever. You are sitting there, and you're cogent enough to put together the pieces."
He then suggested that Garín may have considered his chances of getting Bergs defaulted.
"This is going to get me in trouble. [Are] you ready for it?"
"If you are on the ground looking up and the guy is serving for the match, what are you, about 15 or 20% max chance to break?"
"But you are not going on as if you have a 40% chance to break there; if you are Garin, you are putting [Carlos] Ramos [the umpire] in a weird spot; are you 50/50 to get the default?"
"I would have been thinking it; I tell you, what if I thought I had a 10% chance to break but a 50/50 [DQ chance]? What is more, responsible to your team right there?"
Roddick then added that Garín may have miscalculated the situation.
"But then a certain amount of time passes, you have got to realise if it is going to happen, it is going to happen in the first little bit," he said.
"Then you have to call the trainer and do the whole thing, and we hope he is okay."
Bergs responds as Roddick weighs in again
Bergs responded to the controversy on social media, but Roddick found his statement unconvincing.
"They put up a thing, and Zizou kind of said sorry, not sorry, saying that the umpire was on my side, so yay, we are advancing," he said.
It was a controversial incident, and hearing the former world number one's take is interesting.
Zizou Bergs makes a HUGE shot to break serve... but accidently collides with Cristian Garin in celebration 😮 pic.twitter.com/6H2RqRmx4m
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) February 2, 2025
Just In
Popular News
Latest Comments
- No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.
mandoist04-02-2025 - It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
- Medvedev talking to his form here. "Some actual deep problem." 🤣😂🤣MrAndreeva03-02-2025
- "Hopefully, the team around her will help... " Actually, the lack thereof seems to have been part of the problem(s). Another possibility is that, while dealing with legitimate surgeries, withdrawing, and otherwise passing on events, the competition has stepped-up in intensity while she was busy with traveling, photo shoots, and TV commercials.mandoist03-02-2025
- Ha-ha-ha... Translation: I'll help as long as I don't have to meet in person and endure the ongoing BS"mandoist03-02-2025
- Well said.mandoist03-02-2025
- So tennisuptodate doesn't even make this event a headline on this site? I had to find it hidden here. Not a word about Yastremska trying to ruin Alexandrova's celebration with her postgame actions?? According to WTA regulations, Yastremska has some punishment coming her way for walking-off court, blowing-off postgame rituals with the winner; including no photos, etc.mandoist03-02-2025
- "So while perhaps the big issue of having to wait for a call-up is there, so is the coaching carousel. .." Well, there you go. Emma's 'career' in one precise sentence. Sponsors bailing-out on her will follow (so far, only Porsche and Dior).mandoist02-02-2025
- Typical narcissistic cynicism of Kyrgios! Very rarely has a decent word to say about anything. He's abusive, jeeringly loud and obnoxious. He needs to be officially called out by both the ATP and ITF for using foul language in public spaces such as social media. The guy's a vampiric hoon who sucks the lifeblood out of tennis by trying to bolster popularity of the good-for-nothing bad boy image. I once admired Kyrgios for his previous good-willed willingness to get honest help for his mental health issues but that all went down the drain once he figured he could reel money in through publicity stunts using the negativity of his problems in such a way as to declare them 'no longer problems' but something which he could become more entangled in just to boost an anti-hero image. Shame on him for turning his back on common human decency and good-willed fraternity. Instead he opts to make a 'hero' out of villany. I'm sorry Nick but u are only doing more harm to yourself in the long run by trying to serve up a bad name for the sport you claim to so proudly represent. Get real mate, tennis is not for hoons, neither is hoon-behaviour the hallmark of sporting integrity. It's an utter disgrace!Sueiyin02-02-2025
