Van den Bergh nervous about upcoming knee surgery: “I even have to learn to walk again”

Dimitri Van den Bergh went down in The Masters during the opening round but his immediate focus now turns to his knee surgery.

Van den Bergh went into the season opener with high expectations, but in the first round Chris Dobey was the victor 6-2. “I'm not going into a tournament to lose in the first round. But it just wasn't my day. For some reason I was not strong enough and I was not taking my chances. This is something to think about,” says Van den Bergh to HLN.

The 26-year-old Belgian tore his front cruciate ligaments in his right knee last summer. He will be operated on for this on 9 February. "I am getting a new cruciate ligament. I am very curious, but also nervous and scared. This is a major operation, I even have to learn to walk again. So yes, nervous. I also have to stay overnight after the operation. I don't jump ahead. (laughs) And afterwards I still have to get up the stairs, because we live on the third floor.”

Van den Bergh hopes to be ready in time for the Premier League, which will probably start at the end of March. “It will take a few weeks before I can practice again, because I will not be able to stand. But we are going for a quick rehabilitation so that I can also participate in the UK Open (5 to 7 March). I'm not going to put myself under pressure, because in the end the World Championship at the end of the year is the most important thing. ”