PETE ZIEBRON
After spending two full days at Indian Wells this year, the play and performances of three players jumped out at me: Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and David Goffin. Last year in Cincinnati, I watched Zverev and Goffin lose matches, despite competing exceptionally well. This March, I saw David Goffin upset Stan Wawrinka at Indian Wells, en route to the semifinals.
At the moment, David Goffin is sitting at a career high world #11 in the ATP rankings. In his 16th career appearance in a major, Goffin reached his first quarterfinals berth last month at Roland Garros.
Four years ago, Goffin burst on the scene as he won three qualifying matches and three more main draw matches and advanced to the 4th round at Roland Garros, where he faced his idol Roger Federer. After dropping a 5-7 opening set, Goffin returned the favor winning the 2nd set 7-5. Federer cruised from there, but the #196 Belgian suddenly appeared on the tennis radar with his impressive play.
However, Goffin would not reach the 4th round of a major again until last year at Wimbledon, where he crashed out to Stan Wawrinka. Goffin parlayed his newly found confidence into the North American hard courts as he split sets with world #1 Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati in the 3rd round. Following that match, I was able to speak with Goffin who was thrilled with the way he competed against Djokovic for the opening two sets.
Earlier this year, following two impressive Davis Cup wins over Borna Coric and Marin Cilic, Goffin cruised into Indian Wells with a world of confidence. His round of 16 match against Wawrinka was first up on Stadium 1.
One of the great aspects of attending Indian Wells is all of the opportunities to have highly intelligent conversations with fellow tennis fans in the stands. In fact, I shared with a few people sitting nearby that I felt that Goffin had really maxed out his ability and most likely would not reach the top ten.
Throughout the match, Wawrinka was having a difficult time keeping the ball on court and he let Goffin hang around. After dropping the opening set, Wawrinka started to find his game and played better at the back end of the set, winning it 7-5. The 3rd set went to a tiebreaker and Wawrinka plowed an overhead smash well long that would have given him match point on his racquet. Goffin, realizing that he was given a lifeline took full advantage and closed out the match.
From there, Goffin would advance to the Indian Wells semifinals, losing to Milos Raonic. The following week, Goffin continued his fine form, again reaching the semifinals at a Masters 1000, this time in Miami, where he once again battled valiantly against Djokovic, before losing to the eventual Champion.
Following an impressive run at the Rome Masters, where Goffin blasted world #8 Tomas Berdych 6-0 6-0, the Belgian bowed out to eventual Champion Andy Murray in the quarters. Next, Goffin reached his first career quarterfinal at a major, defeating Nicolas Almagro and Ernests Gulbis before falling to upstart Dominic Thiem in four sets.
David Goffin is getting closer to cracking the ATP Top Ten and his improved play on hard courts will certainly help him in his effort to reach this milestone.