David Goffin didn’t head to Florida with much confidence. The number one Belgian player in men’s tennis made an exciting start to the season and slipped to number 70 in the ATP rankings.
In Rotterdam, in Doha, in Dubai and in Indian Wells, the first round was immediately the last stop for Goffin. At the Challenger Championship in Phoenix, Goffin was hoping to gain some confidence last week, but was killed off in the quarterfinals.
In Miami he met the Spaniard Roberto Karpeles. However, Goffin showed a different face than he had in the previous weeks and quickly imposed his will on the Spaniard. Thanks to strong tennis and his good first performance, he quickly took a breather. At 2-5 he fought back Karballes’ serve: Group 1 was in.
Goffin felt the long-awaited win was in him causing a dip at the start of the second set. However, he quickly made up for his lost service by re-fracture and then our compatriot was pressured. The Carballés didn’t get a second break: 6-3 and wrote higher.
This gives Goffin a welcome dose of confidence. In the second round in Miami he will meet the 19th seed in the world, Pablo Carreno. If Goffin also manages to avoid this cliff, he might wait for a meeting with Jank Sinner.
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