How David Goffin Bounced Back to Earn Miami Masters Showdown with Novak Djokovic
If tennis fans have not caught on to steady David Goffin, they can tune into the 2016 Miami Masters semifinals where he will be challenging world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The unassuming Belgian star has quietly put together back-to-back appearances in the final four at Masters 1000 tournaments, something only Djokovic has been able to top this month.
Goffin is rarely mentioned in conversations about stars of the future. He’s only 5’11”, a buck fifty on the scales and looks like he should be wearing a white robe at a science lab in the University of Liege. He’s unlike the other, allegedly more talented members of the Lost Generation.
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- Unlike Milos Raonic, he does not have a cannon serve.
- He lacks the beautiful highlight strokes and talent of a Grigor Dimitrov.
- He’s never garnered headlines like Bernard Tomic.
What’s his story, and how has he already put himself in position at the No. 13 ranking, with a chance at climbing into the top 10 with a couple more historic wins?
Quiet Sunrise
Maybe it’s best that Goffin is a well-kept secret. With all the ups and downs of more flamboyant talents, it’s nice to see an everyman player who just plays tennis. Nobody’s worried about him being a superstar or a disappointment. Every good step forward is celebrated.
Goffin’s a reminder of when most tennis athletes were neither superhuman specimens nor hyped showmen.
Instead, he’s taken the long and winding staircase around the side of the building, braving competitive storms and adapting his craft through steps of experience.
The signs have been there for four years, even within the titan world of tennis demigods like Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. In the 2012 French Open, Goffin got in as a “lucky loser” because Gael Monfils withdrew due to a knee injury. Goffin took off with three match wins and a 7-5 first-set win over Federer in the fourth round. He lost but impressed the Swiss Maestro, as archived by BBC Sport:
"I thought he played really well. He took the ball early every time. He's got great potential in terms of his touch and the way he reads the game.
I think he can go very far. He's very talented. And I hope he can make it to the top 20. That would be great.
"
By the end of 2012, Goffin was a top-50 player, but few noticed or cared about his feathery touch, quick backhand and creative imagination. He simply did not fit the profile as a player who could do damage at the top. He did not have a big serve or forehand, and these days chip shots and masterful control are rarely inserted into highlight packages.
After little progress in 2013, Goffin battled a quadriceps injury and could not play in the 2014 Australian Open. His ranking plummeted outside the top 100 for nearly the entire first half of the year. Andy Murray drubbed him at the first round of Wimbledon, as if the symbolic difference between the two pros was wider than the English Channel. Had Goffin lost his confidence or slipped away to sell insurance, few might have noticed.
Then, while nearly all of the established ATP pros took refuge from July's summer heat, Goffin picked himself up and began a terrific streak. It might not have been the shot heard ‘round the world, but it changed the course of his career if not salvaging it from the scrapheap.
The persistent Belgian won 20 straight matches, three challengers tournaments and an impressive final over young star Dominic Thiem, in his Austrian backyard tournament no less. By the end of 2014, he had bounced back as a respected force, earning the ATP’s Comeback Player of the Year.
On February 9, 2015, Goffin fulfilled Federer’s prescient wish, hitting the ATP rankings at No. 20 for the first time.
Meanwhile, he took his country’s Davis Cup torch and led a rag-tag team of journeymen all the way to the Davis Cup finals against Andy Murray’s more heralded British miracle.
Goffin could have folded against Murray in that fourth rubber and nobody would have blamed him. After all, he had suffered a crushing 6-1, 6-0 defeat to Murray in their Paris indoors contest just weeks prior.
But Goffin was stout if not heroic as the Belgian faithful held up oversized cardboard cutouts of his head, urging him on to thwart Murray’s epic quest. He lost in three grueling sets, but only because his game lacked just a little less than the Scot. His heart could never be questioned.
Since, all Goffin has done is expand his growing experience and belief into bigger wins. At the Australian Open, he defeated the physical Thiem on his way to another fourth-round major loss to Federer. Immediately after, he marched off to his country's Davis Cup call and outlasted Borna Coric and Marin Cilic for two victories despite Belgium’s narrow loss to Croatia.
Other goliaths would fall at Indian Wells. He edged American prodigy Frances Tiafoe, knocked out Stan Wawrinka and toppled Cilic again before falling in three tight sets to serveborg Raonic in the semifinal.
In Miami, Goffin has four more wins, including quality tests against Viktor Troicki and Gilles Simon. Now it’s time for the ultimate measuring standard against King Novak.
The Commoner vs. The King
Not even the cardboard-waving Belgian fanatics expect that Goffin will defeat Djokovic, but in tennis, there’s always a chance. The biggest problem is that Goffin’s impressive array of talents does not have any real edge against the Serbian.
Goffin is an intelligent player with no real weaknesses, but so is Djokovic. The King is also bigger, possesses more power, returning ability and offensive clout, to say nothing about his tome of championship experience.
The little Belgian is not going to punch his way past Djokovic, but he might be heartened by the man he just vanquished in the quarterfinals, Gilles Simon. It was Simon who pushed an endless diet of cream puffs at Djokovic in the Australian Open, causing the Serbian to offensively misfire for 100 unforced errors in a five-set match. Could Goffin weave the tapestry of a similar but victorious triumph?
He's made his living with quick feet and reflexes against more powerful players. Like Kei Nishikori, he hits on the rise and can steer his shots to coveted spots. Like David Ferrer, he has grit and endurance, and he’s a fighter even if he does not care to employ hyperbole in reacting to his fine play or miscues. He takes it all in fierce stride.
No matter the outcome, Goffin has been the spring’s most pleasant awakening, a simple breeze that touches tennis fans even if he remains invisible to all but tennis poets. Yeah, the late, great David Foster Wallace would marvel at this Belgian kid who has come of age in the southern corners of the United States.
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