Goffin stuns Federer to reach London final

Published by Darren Walton/AAP

David Goffin
Giantkilling Belgian David Goffin is savouring the sweetest success of his career after stunning Roger Federer at the ATP Tour World Finals.

Giantkilling Belgian David Goffin is savouring the sweetest success of his career after stunning Roger Federer and the tennis world to surge into the final of the season-ending championships in London.

Backing up his shock pool win over world No.1 Rafael Nadal, Goffin ended Federer’s year with an improbable 2-6 6-3 6-4 comeback win over the 19-time grand slam champion on Saturday.

After consigning Federer to just his fifth loss of 2017, Goffin will play the winner of Saturday’s second semi-final at the O2 Arena between Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and American Jack Sock.

Goffin had lost all six previous meetings with Federer – and the last eight sets – heading into their latest encounter.

With Federer cruising through the opening set for the loss of only five points on serve, another hiding looked on the cards.

But the world No.8 raised his game to deny the Swiss superstar a record 10th appearance in the title match – and the chance to crown his spectacular comeback year with a seventh World Tour Finals triumph.

“Words can’t describe how I’m feeling at the moment. So much joy and happiness,” Goffin said after joining Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko as only the third man to beat both Federer and Nadal at the showpiece season finale.

“It’s such a special moment. It’s unbelievable. I cannot describe it.

“I was a little bit nervous when I started the match and then I started to feel the ball, the serve was there and it helped me a lot at the end.

“I was a little bit nervous at the end again but I hit some great serves, some great forehands. It was my day.”

In an extraordinary conclusion to the year, Federer’s exit leaves the bottom three qualifiers battling it out for the title – No.6 seed Dimitrov, No.7 Goffin and No.8 Sock.

Dimitrov crushed Goffin for the loss of only two games in their round-robin match on Wednesday, with the Belgian making no secret of his preference to play Sock for the trophy.

“But now it’s the finals. It’s a different match,” Goffin said.

“It’s always special to play the finals.”

Share this: 
  • Most popular articles

14 August 2017

Sharapova quotes Serena: “I will never lose to that li...

Maria Sharapova has opened up in her memoir Unstoppable, revealing her take on how Serena ... More

22 September 2017

Tennis’ obscure traits and trends

In the heat and humidity of the recent US Open series, there was a slow-mo nod to a long-r... More

1 June 2016

Power playing: Make your muscle matter

Comparing tennis today to the game of the past is like comparing a boxer and fencer. There... More

15 September 2016

The 10 most influential players in the history of tennis

The greatest champions, goes the old adage, are those who leave their sport better than th... More