DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 21, 2025

Steve Darcis

Zizou Bergs

Raphael Collignol

Team Belgium

Press Conference

F. COBOLLI/Z. Bergs

6-3, 6-7, 7-6

Team Italy - 2

Team Belgium - 0

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with questions for Team Belgium.

Q. Zizou, are you able to describe what it was like at first to play a match like that and have the atmosphere that you played in and also your emotions at the end?

ZIZOU BERGS: Yeah, I don't think it gets more emotional than this. It's a combination of really, really enjoying being out there as well as feeling, yeah, so much love for your team and for the fans that I hear, dealing with a very difficult crowd.

So yeah, all those combinations makes it a very emotional one. At least I'm really happy that I enjoyed myself out there.

Q. From the stands it seemed like playing-wise you were the better player in the third set. Do you think you win that match if it's not here, but a normal match somewhere else?

ZIZOU BERGS: That's tough to say because I'm pretty sure I cannot fight in a normal tournament that I'm doing what I'm playing for my country. Probably the same for him.

But you see, like, he just gets somewhere all the time, that extra energy. When you think he's getting down, when you feel like his serve is letting him down, then he does like a great point, the crowd is in it. He just finds energy again.

It would be completely different match if it's not here.

Q. Even if you saved two match points with two great serves, in the tiebreak you had seven match points. Two or three of them I don't know if you were tense. How do you explain? Do you think because you've never been often in an atmosphere, new experience? What was your coach telling you when you were changing sides?

ZIZOU BERGS: That's a long question again.

Q. The question is, were you tense? Do you think you lost those points, at least two match points that were quite easy for you, in a different situation, not easy in the head probably or in the arm?

ZIZOU BERGS: Well, if you don't get tense at this stage, I don't know what you're going to get tensed because it just can't mean more to you than at this stage. So you will do some stupid things, you will do some amazing things.

I did a stupid thing at 6-4. Then I said, Okay, let's try to do instead of 120%, let's look for that 100%. In the end I end up doing the 70%, so too little.

The dropshot is for me a choice that have make me won a match already this year in the exact same moment. I said, Okay, let's try it. Anyway, two of the three options is ballsy. I prefer to be ballsy than hold it back like I did at 6-5.

Steve, he's helping me out, making sure I keep hitting those balls, try to strive for that 100%, not go for the 120%, go back to the 100%.

There were so many important points. In those moments you're going to fail, you're going to do right things. Even you do the right thing sometimes, doesn't mean you're going to get rewarded.

Q. Zizou, you said you enjoyed the experience. Raphael was in here earlier and said he found it tough to enjoy the match. What is it about your character that you're able to enjoy such an environment with so much stress?

ZIZOU BERGS: Well, I think it's a combination of realizing at which stage we're playing at, what it means. For example, I remember Raf telling me when the ceremony was there, This is absolutely crazy. So it means also a lot to him.

Probably with the experience he's getting, he's an amazing Davis Cup player, and the more he's going to play, the more he's going to find that kind of right balance between caring so much and enjoying yourself. I found that.

I don't know, I was just laughing so many times on court, smiling to Steve. Steve was smiling back, realizing what crazy points we were doing in a crazy atmosphere.

Yeah, that's really important for me to enjoy myself. If I enjoy myself, I most likely really play, yeah, the tennis I want to play.

So yeah, it is something that needs time and something that maybe I only found this year. I'm 26, and Raphael is 23. He will have some time also to explore the right balance there.

Q. Steve, how exhausted are you? What an amazing run Belgium has had. Your thoughts, impressions?

CAPTAIN STEVE DARCIS: Yeah, we did an amazing year. This is for sure. Today I think we are all sad. But the feeling I have now is that I'm so proud of them. They did unbelievable all those ties. Today we were very close to be at 1-1, and then you never know the doubles.

I'm sad today, for sure. Everybody will be sad in the team. But we are very proud of what we did this year. Like Zizou said, we have a young team and we still have time. Hopefully we going to come back a bit stronger in the next years.

Q. Zizou, when you have a match like that with another player, it builds a bit of a bond with that player. Are you expecting to talk about this match with him at some point in the future, share something special?

ZIZOU BERGS: Yeah, are we going to talk about it? I don't know. We have a lot of respect for each other, but we don't really hang out on the tour. I'm also not there for such a long time. I just finding my place in there.

But for sure we had for me a special tie last year in Bologna. For us both again this year a special tie. For sure, that creates, yeah, some kind of bond, as you say. Let's see for the coming tournaments if we going to play a few more. At least even though it sucks to say today, they are really fun battles actually.

Q. Raf, after your disappointment from earlier in the evening, you're sitting courtside, as you watched the match, what are you able to take out of something like that?

RAPHAEL COLLIGNON: I think it was very inspiring for me to see Zizou fighting out there, enjoying this atmosphere. Yeah, was maybe thinking why should I do this during the match, why didn't I enjoy the match, because we are not playing Davis Cup semifinals every day.

I think this experience will make me better I think for the future. Of course, coming back with new motivation to try to do more. I think he inspired all the team. We are all very proud of him the way he fought for everybody out there.

Like he said, we are a very young team. We are going to come back stronger with all this experience we had last year, and especially this tie for me. Let's see what's coming up in the upcoming year and of course we are motivated for what's coming next.