David Goffin overcame a battling Rafael Nadal in their ATP Finals opener on Monday to post a 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-4 victory over the world No. 1.
Nadal, who was clearly bothered by his injured right knee, saved four match points and climbed from a break down in the second set to force a decider but faltered in the third as Goffin clinched a dramatic win.
It was Goffin’s first triumph over a reigning world No. 1 in five attempts (all his previous losses were against Djokovic) and his first at the ATP Finals, having lost his sole previous match at the tournament when he played as an alternate, replacing an injured Gael Monfils last year.
Big win for David Goffin.
The first set was a low-quality error-strewn 54-minute tussle that saw Goffin blow an early lead, then fail to serve out the set thanks to a string of double faults, before the Belgian finally sealed the tiebreak on a netted error from Nadal.
The world No. 1 was not moving well and particularly misfiring on his backhand side.
Goffin had brief moments of brilliance amidst long stretches of lulls, and he pulled off a Nadal-esque banana shot on his way to a break late in the second to put himself in the position to serve for the match at 7-6 (5), 5-3.
But once again, the No. 7 seed couldn’t close it, as Nadal suddenly found his backhand to hit back-to-back winners with it and get the break to stay alive in the match.
Goffin got his first match point in the next game, on the Nadal serve but he sent a ball wide to see the chance disappear. A fired up Nadal held serve for 5-5 and rallied the roaring crowd behind him for reinforcements.
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Goffin was unfazed though by his lapse and held serve to put pressure on Nadal again.
The Spaniard then saved three more match points on his own serve to force a second-set tiebreak.
Nadal hit a signature backhand passing shot to get his hands on four set points and he closed it out two points later to force a decider against his Belgian opponent.
Before the match, Nadal’s coach, Carlos Moya, told Sport360 that his charge’s fighting spirit was something that never ceases to amaze him.
“I don’t think he gave up not even one point this year,” said Moya.
And it certainly felt like that after watching Nadal battle through that second set.
But the Mallorcan ran out of steam in the third set and Goffin took advantage to leap to a 4-1 double-break lead.
Surely it was over for Nadal. But the top seed got a tiny opening in the sixth game and a clever drop shot helped him get one of the breaks back.
The gap may have been narrowed but this time Goffin did not flop when serving for the match, and he struck his 14th ace to complete a roller coaster victory.
