His loss was his gain! As a lucky loser, David Goffin, just twenty years of age,reached the 4th round in the main draw of Roland Garros where he took a set off Roger Federer, his childhood idol.
In 2011, David Goffin of Belgium earned his first match win on the ATP Tour in Chennai as a qualifier losing in the following round to Stan Wawrinka. In 2012, as Belgium’s top player, David Goffin finished in the top 50 for the first time. He made his Grand Slam debut at the French Open, where he defeated tour veterans Radek Stapanek of the Czech Republic and Arnaud Clement of France—both in five sets—before succumbing in four to the 2011 French Open champion, Roger Federer in the 4th round. Though 0-6 vs top ten opponents, Goffin did defeat then eleventh-ranked John Isner in the 2nd round in Valencia making this his highest-ranked victory.
Despite losing in the first round at all four slams in 2013, Goffin’s opponents were all highly accomplished players: Verdasco, Djokovic, Tsonga and Dogopolov. Following his loss at the US Open, Goffin underwent surgery for a broken left wrist terminating his 2013 season.
In 2014, Goffin won three consecutive titles without dropping a set on the ATP Challenger Tour. This past August, as a wild card entrant, Goffin won his first ATP World Tour Title defeating another breakout star and hometown favorite Dominic Thiem, in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Later that month at Flushing Meadows, Goffin progressed to the third round for the first time, losing to Grigor Dimitrov, the seventh seed. In September, he posted his second title win on the ATP World Tour defeating Joao Sousa in the final at the Moselle Open in Metz, France, having defeated Tsonga in the quarters. Following this title victory, Goffin broke into the top 40 for the first time.
At the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland, Goffin competed in his third ATP World Tour final this time against the hometown favourite and his boyhood idol, Roger Federer. In the first round in Basel, Goffin drew the talented young Austrian Dominic Thiem; this would be their fourth meeting in 2014 with Goffin leading their head to head 4-0. Goffin would also secure his first victory over a top ten player, defeating Milos Raonic,currently ranked 9th in the world, in the quarter-finals.
As a result of his strong performance in Basel, Goffin has achieved a career high ranking of 22 in the world.Goffin closed out the 2014 season at the Paris Indoors at Bercy losing to Ferrer in the first round in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. No one can deny that 2014 has been a stellar year for the young, gifted Belgian, but clearly there is significant room for improvement.
The serve, though it appears to be a weapon, at times is a huge liability. While he may out-ace his opponents, Goffin is typically on the losing end and in the process racking up as many, if not more double faults.During his first round loss to David Ferrer earlier this week in Bercy, Goffin posted five aces (Ferrer had none) but also served up five double faults.
He consistently serves below 50% and though one may assert that he is taking risks with the second serve against strong returners, this strategy is at best a compromise. He typically posts good numbers with regards to percentage of first serve points won, but he is far from exemplary on second serve points. The majority of the time, this statistic succinctly elucidates the tale of the tape.
During his defeat at the hands of the Swiss maestro in Basel last weekend, Goffin produced six aces, four double faults and won only 25% of his second serve points. This level of play will never get it done against most top players, let alone the legendary Roger Federer.
I am most impressed with his aggressive baseline play, though at times he hangs too far back, putting himself in a defensive position. This was particularly evident is his match with Roger in the Swiss Indoors final, where he was unable to create any break point opportunities. Roger more often than not was hugging the baseline waiting for the opportunity to step inside and rip a backhand cross court winner short in the box.
Goffin is more than willing to approach the net and while his volleys are more than adequate, his overhead smash is quite powerful. Goffin’s ground strokes off both wings are explosive, particularly his compact and outstanding two-handed backhand. He is extremely quick and his relatively short stature is most definitely proving to be an asset. He never appears rushed no doubt a consequence of his exceptional footwork.
This time next year, Goffin will not be ending his season in the city of lights; he will be booked on a flight to London to compete with the elite in the ATP World Tour Finals. In 2015, David Goffin will be going, going, gone—to the O2 arena as one of eight men to qualify for the season-ending championships.
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