When David Goffin was asked about how he would overcome the stiff challenge of Roger Federer in the semi finals, he had conceded that he had ‘no idea how’.
And frankly none of us did.
Federer hadn’t been at his best all week, but had found a way to scrape through his challengers. And when the semi final line up was finalised, it looked like Federer would cruise through and end the year on a high. But a determined(though initially clueless) Goffin had other ideas.
The first set panned out just as expected, with Federer breezing through Goffin, not giving him even a sniff.
And just as we were preparing to witness another set of Federer dominance, Goffin found his feet, and with some conviction.
Federer was ‘schooled’ in the second set, and just couldn’t recover in the 3rd, as Goffin was unleashing his groundstrokes to perfection, much to the surprise of all onlookers.
Goffin would be vying for the title on Sunday, and will now await the winner of Sock vs Dimitrov.
This is how Twitter reacted:
He's done it!
David Goffin beats Roger Federer to make it through to the final of the #ATPFinals.
He wins 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
What a performance. 👏👏https://t.co/GdtjZTsiVG pic.twitter.com/n0TMCk6489
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 18, 2017
Roger Federer's season
🏆 Australian Open
🏆 Indian Wells
🏆 Miami
🏆 Halle
🏆 Wimbledon
F Montréal
QF US Open
🏆Shanghai
🏆 Basel
SF London WTFs— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 18, 2017
Well, It's over. Only Roger Federer can have a year like this at 36 and leave us feeling like he could have done more.
May 2018 be even better.
— Jonathan Shifman (@Servolley_JS) November 18, 2017
Year end top 2
1. Rafael Nadal, 10.645
2. Roger Federer, 9.605— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/LadyBellatrix/status/931914714782814208
https://twitter.com/tumcarayol/status/931897220294733824
🎾 Roger Federer's wife has had a rough night…#ATPFinals pic.twitter.com/DMwWdHddRq
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) November 18, 2017
World Tour Finals:
2016 Djokovic def. Goffin 6-1 6-2
2017 Goffin def. Nadal 7-6 6-7 6-4
2017 Goffin def. Federer 2-6 6-3 6-4I won't say anything else. pic.twitter.com/fE0okLVt2H
— Jason (@Certinfy) November 18, 2017
When you turn on the TV just in time to see David Goffin win match point against Roger Federer. #ATPWorldTourFinals pic.twitter.com/lHoT55S4hf
— #BLM! Tennis Nerd Podcast (@TennisNerdPod) November 18, 2017
beating Federer made it a good day for Goffin. Federer saying this about him in his post-match presser made it a great day:
"I like him a lot."
— Ricky Dimon (@Dimonator) November 18, 2017
three players remain in London: they are the three LAST seeds.
1) Nadal – OUT
2) Federer – OUT
3) Zverev – OUT
4) Thiem – OUT
5) Cilic – OUT
6) Dimitrov – IN
7) Goffin – IN
8) Sock – IN— Ricky Dimon (@Dimonator) November 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/LadyBellatrix/status/931920376795451392
