David Goffin may be unsure about how high he can rise in the men’s game, but it isn’t stopping him from thinking big.
The world No.14 secured Belgium’s place in the Davis Cup semifinals by defeating Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, to reward his team an unassailable lead over Italy. On Friday Goffin and Steve Darcis won both singles matches to put Belgium in a commanding position before they lost their doubles match on Saturday.
“It was the perfect match, perfect score. I did the job. I couldn’t expect a match like that, it was perfect.” Said Goffin.“I didn’t waste too much energy, I didn’t stress too much.”
“I think Paolo is playing well at the moment, it’s just that I have all the weapons to counter Paolo. With the return I have a good return and also I made him run a lot.” He added.
Belgium, who were runners-up in 2015, will play Australia in the last four of the tournament. It will be the first meeting between the two countries since 2010, when Belgium battled to a 3-2 victory.
“We are just going to enjoy our victory today (against Italy) and we will think about Australia later.” Goffin explained. “Of course, it’s another good tie against a good team. We have a good chance, we have opportunities to win some matches.”
The recent Davis Cup success follows what has been a solid start to the year by the 26-year-old. In February he became the first player from his country to break into the world’s top-10 on the ATP Tour. The breakthrough occurred after his run to the last eight at the Australian Open following by back-to-back final appearances in Sofia and Rotterdam.
Goffin’s one-week stint in the top-10 has left him hungry for more. Poised to embark upon the clay court swing of the tour, he gave no specific goals of what he would like to achieve in the immediate future.
“I don’t know what is my limit, we will see. I played a good first three months and got some good results. Now there is a long period coming with the clay-court season.” A reflective Goffin stated.
“Tomorrow I’m going to practice on the clay and prepare my body for a good clay season.”
The next test for Goffin will be in a week’s time at the Monte Carlo Masters.
