David Goffin (ATP 14) has started his clay court season well. The native of Liège won on Sunday in the first round of the Masters 1,000 tournament in Monte Carlo (clay / 2,082,960 euros) against the Croatian Marin Cilic (ATP 43). It became 6-4, 3-6 and 6-0 after two hours and twelve minutes of tennis. Goffin missed nine out of ten break points in the second set.
It was the ninth game between 30-year-old Goffin and 32-year-old Cilic, former winner of the US Open (2014). The score is now 5-4 for Goffin. Belgium’s best tennis player takes on a qualifier in the second round. It is not yet known who this will be.
“It was a good win. Starting this way on gravel gives my confidence a boost ”, responded Goffin, who is the eleventh seed in Monte Carlo. “Marin is not a player you can just walk over. I had to pull out all the stops. The third set went very well. I am pleased that things are on the up. ”
“The level of men’s tennis is really very high,” Goffin continued. “The young people who come to squeak have great potential and those who have been around for a while also play very well. Every match is difficult, especially in a Masters 1,000 tournament, with a select field of participants. I now mainly want to continue on this path and do everything I can to improve my playing level. ”
Goffin will take on the winner of the game between the Italian Marco Cecchinato (ATP-93), semi-finalist at Roland-Garros in 2018, and the German Dominik Köpfer (ATP-54) on Tuesday or Wednesday. If he wants to get far, he will then have to deal with the likes of Alexander Zverev (ATP-6) and Novak Djokovic (ATP-1).
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