Only one place left in London: David Goffin has secured a spot in the ATP finals with the defeat of Lucas Pouille against Jack Sock.
Last year David Goffin had already sniffed London air – Goffin had taken part in the ATP finals as a replacement for Gael Monfils and had lost his only match against Novak Djokovic. The 26-year-old has now lost his last sixteen against Julien Benneteau this Thursday, but benefited from the almost simultaneous defeat of Lucas Pouille against Jack Sock. The Frenchman, the last Sunday’s triumphant champion in Vienna, has thus dropped out of the draw for the last spot in London.
Juan Martin del Potro has the best chance of overtaking Pablo Carreno Busta, currently in eighth place (of the healthy players). The Argentinean would only have to win his quarter-finals against John Isner on Friday – a likely outcome with a 6:2 record from del Potro.
David Goffin was in the final round of Basel a few days ago, where he had no chance against Roger Federer. The Belgian, who was the first player in his country to qualify “regularly” for the field at the end of the season, has only recently celebrated two tournament victories: first in Shenzhen with the final victory against Alexandr Dolgopolov, a week later in Tokyo at the 500cc final against Adrian Mannarino.
“Of course, it would have been better if I had qualified with a win,”said Goffin after the bankruptcy against Benneteau,”but I’m very happy to have qualified,” every player has the dream of being in London at the end of the year.
This dream almost burst on a spring day in Paris – when David Goffin got tangled up in a tarpaulin on court Suzanne Lenglen, got so badly injured on his ankle that he had to pause the entire lawn season. Now, however, Goffin has reached a second major climax at the end of the year. In addition to the ATP finals, the Davis Cup final against France is also on the agenda.
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