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Goffin Shocks Federer In London

  • Posted: Nov 18, 2017

Goffin Shocks Federer In London

Nov182017

Belgian becomes first to beat Federer and Nadal in same tournament since Djokovic (2013)

David Goffin was perplexed.

After he reached the Nitto ATP Finals semi-finals, the Belgian was asked what he would have to do to beat Roger Federer for the first time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Goffin had been 0-6 in their head-to-head, including a 6-1, 6-2 loss in the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors Basel last month.

“Honestly, I don’t know what to do tomorrow,” Goffin said.

The Belgian did some quick thinking. Goffin shocked Federer on Saturday, coming back from a set down to eliminate the second seed and pick up his first win against the Swiss, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Goffin, who qualified in London for the first time this week, will now play for the biggest title of his career on Sunday. The Belgian has won four ATP World Tour crowns, including an ATP World Tour 500 at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017 earlier this year.

But the 26-year-old had never reached a bigger final title match, either at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, a Grand Slam or the Nitto ATP Finals. On Sunday, Goffin will meet either Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov or Jack Sock of the U.S.

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“I have no words. I cannot describe,” Goffin said on court. “I’m so happy.”

Goffin hinted he might have a preference as to who he faces on the final day of the 2017 season. The seventh seed faced Dimitrov in Group Pete Sampras play, falling 6-0, 6-2.

“If you watched some matches this week you know the answer,” Goffin said, smiling.

The Belgian is 1-3 against Dimitrov in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but 3-0 against Sock in their head-to-head.

Regardless of Sunday’s result, though, this has already been the best week of Goffin’s career. He started his stay at The O2 by celebrating the biggest win of his career, a 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-4 upset against World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Goffin then had a blip, falling to Dimitrov in only 75 minutes.

But he again summoned supreme tennis on Sunday to beat Federer. Goffin becomes the first player to beat the Top 2 players at the Nitto ATP Finals since 2009, when champion Nikolay Davydenko beat No. 2 Nadal in group play and No. 1 Federer in the semi-finals.

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Andy Murray: British number one splits with coach Ivan Lendl

  • Posted: Nov 18, 2017

British number one Andy Murray has split with coach Ivan Lendl for a second time by “mutual agreement”.

The Scot won Wimbledon, the US Open and Olympic gold during two years with Lendl from 2012 to 2014.

Murray was then coached by Amelie Mauresmo before turning back to Lendl in 2016, winning his second Wimbledon title, a second Olympic gold and becoming world number one that year.

“I’m thankful to Ivan for his help and guidance over the years,” Murray said.

“We’ve had great success and learned a lot as a team. My focus now is on getting ready for Australia with the team I have in place and getting back to competing.”

Former world number one and eight-time Grand Slam winner Lendl, 57, added: “I wish Andy well going forward. We had a great run and a lot of fun.”

Murray has been recovering from a hip injury, and his last competitive match was a Wimbledon quarter-final defeat by Sam Querrey in July.

He has since slipped to 16th in the latest world rankings, but earlier this month he played in a charity match against Roger Federer.

After losing 6-3 3-6 10-6, Murray said he “hoped” to return to competition at the Brisbane International in January.

The tournament is held two weeks before the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of 2018, which gets under way on 15 January.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Murray and Lendl have spent very little time in each other’s company this season as injury has forced the former world number one to spend so much time on the sidelines.

But Lendl’s return – to work alongside Jamie Delgado – at The Queen’s Club in June of last year was the spark for an extraordinary run of success.

Murray won eight tournaments between June and November, including Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics, and won the last five events he entered to pip Novak Djokovic to the year-end number one position.

The partnership fizzled out first time around as Murray was returning from back surgery, and there is a clear parallel three-and-a-half-years on.

Finding a figure of Lendl’s stature to supplement the valuable work of Delgado may not be of pressing concern to Murray right now.

First and foremost he craves fitness, and the chance to be able to compete for the sport’s major prizes once again.

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ATP Finals: Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares beat Lukasz Kubot & Marcelo Melo to reach semis

  • Posted: Nov 17, 2017

Britain’s Jamie Murray and Brazil’s Bruno Soares made it through to the semi-finals with victory over top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo at the ATP Finals in London.

Fourth seeds Murray and Soares knew that only a win would do against a pair who had already qualified, and they prevailed 6-2 6-4 in 73 minutes.

They will play Henri Kontinen and John Peers at 18:00 GMT on Saturday.

Earlier, Kubot and Melo will face Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus at 14:00.

  • Latest scores and results
  • Goffin thrashes Thiem to reach semi-finals
  • ATP Finals – BBC TV and radio coverage

Murray had felt a slight back issue in his previous match, but there was no sign of it as he and Soares raced into a 5-0 lead and had three points for a love set, only to let a 40-0 lead slip.

Any glimmer of resistance was snuffed out when Brazilian Melo netted a volley to drop serve, and with it the set, in game eight.

An early break in the second set was handed back by a Murray double fault, and a 3-0 lead threatened to turn into a deficit when they faced three break points at 3-3.

Murray held firm, however, clenching his fist after saving the third with a smash, and a loose Melo service game saw the contest end when Poland’s Kubot sent a volley over the baseline.

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