The Belgian David Goffin, eighth world player, qualified for the semifinals of the London Masters this Friday by defeating the world number four, the Austrian Dominic Thiem, 6-4 and 6-1.
Goffin will face the Swiss Roger Federer on Saturday for a place in the final.
I’ve never known how to beat Roger. I don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow. But I’ll try something, something different, something that I haven’t done in the past. I play Roger on his best surface, indoors, ”said Goffin.
«It’s not easy, it’s perfect for Roger (the track). But I will try, I will do my best to find solutions and be aggressive, “he added.
Between Goffin and Thiem, in a start to the match without rhythm, it was the Austrian who took the opportunity to win the first three games, while the Belgian collected bulk errors. Inexplicably from there, Thiem was only able to pull off two more games in the entire match.
Goffin made the opposite trip and recovered his precision for five consecutive games, with a spectacular series of 15 points in a row. Thiem’s errors helped, especially with the reverse and the service (only 43% of first balls in the whole game).
The Belgian, who in a few days will lead Belgium in the Davis Cup final in Lille against France, closed the first set with a passing-shot with the right.
Between the two sets Thiem requested a medical time-out to have his left knee treated. But it did not help him to regain feelings and helplessly let Goffin escape again on the scoreboard.
In just one hour and 11 minutes the Belgian made it to the final with a backhand rest. After having beaten a physically depleted Rafa Nadal and falling flatly to Dimitrov (6-0 and 6-2), Goffin did not expect such a simple challenge against the other candidate to reach the semifinals.