A US Open player confronts his opponent for grunting during the match

By Canadian Press on August 30, 2025.

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Open player frustrated by the grunting of his opponent Saturday let him know about it during a tense conversation at the net after the match.

Jaume Munar of Spain was not happy with the noise Zizou Bergs of Belgium was making during Munar’s 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory in the third round.

Bergs said Munar was talking “a little bit of trash” late in the match, so Bergs asked him why afterward.

“He was apparently not so happy with my grunting during the match, which I didn’t know,” Bergs said. “I said: ‘It’s nothing towards you at all.’”

Munar said Bergs’ grunting bothered him two or three times.

“I think he did some wrong things, but he said it was not on purpose,” Munar explained. “So it’s not much more than that.”

At 4-all in the third set, Bergs was docked a point for ball abuse for hitting a ball into the stands. He was trailing 40-love at the time, so the lost point ceded that game.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

The Associated Press

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