Who is Rafael Nadal's Italian Open 1R opponent? All you need to know about Zizou Bergs, the Belgian named after soccer superstar Zinedine Zidane 

Rafael Nadal will face Zizou Bergs of Belgium in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome on Thursday, May 9. Nadal has won the Masters 1000 event a staggering 10 times.

However, he will be 38 next month and hence, might find it a bit difficult to repeat the heroics of yesteryears at this stage of his career. The Spaniard's form in the tournament should also be a fair indicator ahead of the French Open that gets underway on May 26.

Bergs has not faced Nadal yet in his career

Bergs, the 24-year-old Belgian, has not faced Nadal yet. It will, therefore, be the first ever occasion of the young man getting an opportunity to take on the greatest claycourt player ever.

Bergs was born a year after the French national team won the FIFA World Cup in 1998. Zinedine Zidane, nicknamed "Zizou", was the most influential player on that team and also scored a brace in the final. Hence, Bergs was named after the French legend, as per ATP.

Interestingly, it was Zidane who handed over the French Open trophy to Nadal in 2005, when the southpaw won his maiden title there.

Fast forward to almost two decades, and the King of Clay will take on a player named after the French soccer icon.

Zizou Bergs' career so far

However, Bergs has not done much in his fledgling career so far. He has a very ordinary 9-23 win-loss record, having turned professional in 2018. He has won eight Challenger-level titles, the latest of which came at Tallahassee in April this year.

He made his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon in 2022 as a wild card. Subsequently he has played the first round of the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024. However, Bergs has not been able to go past the first round in any of the Majors he has played in. He achieved a career-high ranking of 103 last month after his Challenger title run.