SHENZHEN, Octuber 1, 2017
David Goffin won his first title of the season in his third final, ending a six-final losing streak that began after winning his first two tour-level trophies in Kitzbühel and Metz 2014. The second seed from Belgium defeated Aleksandr Dolgopolov from Ukraine 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to hoist the trophy of the Shenzhen Open on Sunday.
Goffin fired 15 aces, winning 80 per cen tof his first service points to secure victory in two hours and three minuts. The Belgian improved to 3-6 in ATP World Tour finals.
The victory helped Goffin strengthen his position in the Emirates ATP Race To London. He sits in 13th place, but with Stan Wawrinka (fifth) and Novak Djokovic (ninth) both out for the rest of the year due to injuries, the Belgian is right on the bubble.
“This one is really special because you know it’s always tough to come back from injuries… It means a lot. I cannot be happier today,” Goffin said and added:
“In the third I served really well. I stayed really focused even if I was a little bit tired… I served really well and I played two really good games at the end of the match.”
It was Dolgopolov’s third final of the season after capturing the title in Buenos Aires (d. Nishikori) and reaching the final in Bastad.
“For sure I wanted to have an easier second set but I had some issues and overall he played better, I think… I had a good week,” Dolgopolov said.
Ram/Peya Win Doubles Trophy
Rajeev Ram and Alexander Peya won the title in their first tournament playing together. The US-American-Austrian combination upset the tournament’s top team Nikola Mektic and Nicholas Monroe 6-3, 6-2. The final lasted one hour and 12 minutes.
“When he called, it was a great opportunity for me as well. So happy it worked out. I think we played some great tennis, and really played the big points well today in the final,” told Ram, who clinched his fourth title of the year, with three different partners (Delray Beach w/Klaasen, Indian Wells w/Klaasen and Newport w/Qureshi).
“It was an unbelievable week for me, I guess for both of us… Luckily I was able to find such a great one [partner] and it worked out perfect for us,” Peya added. It was his 15th trophy overall and first since Basel in 2015 (w/Soares).
