LONDON, November 17, 2017

David Goffin has clinched the final spot at the stage of the last four at the Nitto ATP Finals. The 26-year-old Belgian beat Austria’s Dominic Thiem on Friday afternoon in the Group Pete Sampras 6-4, 6-1.

Thiem had an excellent start into the match, gaining an early break as well as a 3-0 lead but from then he totally lost his rhythm. Goffin won six games in a row to take the opening set in 31 minutes.

David Goffin against Dominic Thiem at the Nitto ATP Finals (photo: Florian Heer)

The 24-year-old Austrian, who landed only 43 per cent of his first services in place, could only win one more game. Goffin converted his second match point with a backhand return winner after one hour and 11 minutes.

“It’s never easy to play against a good friend. It was tough but I was focused from the start until the end. Although I was a bit nervous, I managed to stay calm and got the job done,” Goffin was pleased with his performance during his on-court interview.

Goffin To Meet Federer

Goffin will play Roger Federer in the semi-finals. The Swiss maestro is leading 6-0 in their head-to-head record and only lost two sets. Federer won their last meeting at the Swiss Indoors in Basel 6-1, 6-2.

“I’ve never found a key to beat Roger. Honestly, I don’t know what to do tomorrow. But I’m going to try something different, something that I’ve never done in the past. I will try to do my best to play a better match than in Basel, for sure,” Goffin said.

“In Basel, it was not easy. He played well. He didn’t miss. He was really aggressive, as always. He returned so well. So it was not easy in Basel. I hope that tomorrow he’s not going to play the same match. But I will try something.”

Grigor Dimitrov, who thrashed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-1 in only 59 minutes later in the evening, will take on Jack Sock in the second semi-final.