| ATP Finals | |
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| Venue: The 02 Arena, London Dates: 12-19 November | |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, Red Button, BBC Sport website and mobile app, listen on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and follow text updates online. | |
David Goffin mounted a spirited fightback to stun six-time champion Roger Federer and reach the final of the season-ending ATP Finals in London.
The Belgian seventh seed, 26, came from a set down to win 2-6 6-3 6-4, his first victory in seven attempts against the 19-time Grand Slam champion.
“I have no words. I cannot describe how I’m feeling – so much joy, so much happiness,” said Goffin.
Goffin will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday’s final.
The sixth seed came through 4-6 6-0 6-3 against American eighth seed Jack Sock in the second semi-final.
Dimitrov, 26, will play Goffin for the second time this week, having thrashed the Belgian 6-0 6-2 in the group stage on Wednesday.
“It’s another match – I just need to keep on playing,” said Dimitrov. “It’s the last match of the season so, full house, and we’re on.”
Britain’s Jamie Murray and Brazilian Bruno Soares lost 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 to defending champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers in the doubles semi-finals.
Federer, 36, had been a strong favourite to land his seventh title at the season finale, but will be absent from Sunday’s final after suffering only his fifth defeat of 2017.
The Swiss can reflect on a remarkable year in which he has won two more major titles, among 52 match victories, but it is six years since he last won the ATP Finals.
“It’s a bit disappointing for me because it’s indoors, it’s a court I like to play on, but I had my chances and missed them,” said Federer.
“When he had them, he was very committed. I think that was the difference.
“He’s crushed me too many times in practice to not also do it once in a match situation.”
Federer went into the semi-final with a 6-0 record against Goffin, whose resistance appeared to have been broken after only seven minutes.
Goffin battled gamely to cling on in his opening service game but Federer took it on the fifth break point and went on to dominate the set.
Two rasping backhand winners down the line helped the Swiss to a second break at 4-1 and the set was wrapped up in little over half an hour.
The match turned early in the second set, when Goffin swung a cross-court forehand into space vacated by Federer to edge 2-0 ahead.
What at first appeared to be an exercise in damage limitation grew into an increasingly potent threat as Goffin’s serve subdued Federer, who fired a forehand long on his only break point in the set.
When Goffin broke in game three of the decider, helped by a beautiful backhand up the line, his belief spread to the 17,000 spectators, thrilled by this unexpectedly tight contest.
A surprisingly flat Federer could not muster another challenge as Goffin served out in style to reach the biggest final of his career and guarantee a new champion on Sunday night.
“I’m so happy to play the match I played. It was such a special moment,” said Goffin.
“Honestly, I don’t know [what worked]. It was just the feeling of the day. I was a little bit nervous when I started the match but I started to feel the ball really well. The serve was there right to the end. It was my day.”
Roared on by the large Bulgarian contingent inside the O2 Arena, Dimitrov just about found a way past the in-form – if unpredictable – Sock.
Having failed to convert four match points in his last meeting with Sock, there were obvious nerves as three more chances to clinch victory passed him by before he finally sealed it.
Dimitrov could have made shorter work of it had he built on an early 3-0 lead, but Sock’s huge forehand brought him six out of seven games to clinch the opening set.
The American’s game than faded spectacularly and Dimitrov rolled through six straight games to level, setting up a decider that saw the two men test each other’s nerve to the limit.
“That last game took a lot out of me,” said Dimitrov.
“Jack is an unbelievable player. That forehand gives me so much trouble, I’m not going to lie. He was playing so well but my belief was really good today.”
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
The turnaround in Goffin’s fortunes has been remarkable.
Yes, he beat Rafael Nadal in his opening match, but he was listless and won only two games in his following match against Grigor Dimitrov.
Since then he has beaten the world number four Dominic Thiem and now Federer, with a super-aggressive performance – and all this as he nurses a knee problem and contemplates playing for his country in next week’s Davis Cup Final.
Federer has not been at his absolute best this week, and in this semi-final looked like a man in need of a break after an exhilarating season.
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There is little doubt as to who the two best doubles teams on the ATP World Tour have been this season. So it is only fitting that the top two seeds at the Nitto ATP Finals will battle for the title at the season finale.
After a tight opening set, Henri Kontinen and John Peers used the momentum they gained from blitzing Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in a tie-break to steamroll into their second consecutive final at The O2, defeating the fourth seeds in the semi-finals, 7-6(2), 6-2, in 78 minutes.
The defending champions will get a crack at winning the title at The O2 once again on Sunday against top-seeded Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who will finish the year atop the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.
Murray and Soares did well to save four consecutive break points while down 5-6 against the second seeds in the first set, but they could not hold off the second seeds forever. Kontinen and Peers dominated the ensuing tie-break, striking two stunning returns at 3/2 and 4/2 to take control. They won the final six points of the opener and broke immediately in the second set before pulling away.
Kontinen and Peers simply proved too powerful, hitting through their opponents’ rock-solid defences at net, and never faltering on serve. The Finnish-Australian duo dropped just three points on their first serve in the match, and only faced one break point, which they saved. While Murray and Soares made an effort to bring energy to their net play, the Scottish-Brazilian team was never able to get into return points because of the second seeds’ huge serving. And when they did manage to put balls in play, volleys were quickly swatted away.
The final will be the fifth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between Kontinen/Peers and Melo/Kubot this season, with Kontinen and Peers leading 3-1. They earned all three of their victories in straight sets, and suffered their only loss 9-7 in the fifth set of the Wimbledon semi-finals.
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Briton Jamie Murray and Brazil’s Bruno Soares missed out on a place in the final as they went down in two sets to Henri Kontinen and John Peers at the ATP Finals in London.
Defending champions Kontinen and Peers edged a tight first set in the tie-break and came through 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.
The Finnish-Australian pair will face top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in the final.
Kubot and Melo beat Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus 6-1 6-4.
Kontinen saved the only break point in the opening 11 games with a fine second serve, and Murray and Soares looked to have the momentum when they staved off four set points in a row at 6-5 down.
However, some classy returning from both Kontinen and Peers – who was Murray’s partner at the Finals two years ago – saw them break twice from 3-2 in the tie-break, and go on to clinch it.
A furious Soares slammed his racquet into the court after the pair dropped serve at the start of the second set.
Kontinen all but sealed victory with a superb backhand volley for the double break at 5-2, allowing the Finn to serve out the match after one hour and 18 minutes.
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Watch five of the best shots as David Goffin stuns six-time champion Roger Federer to reach the final of the ATP Finals in London.
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.
The first of two semi finals on Saturday at the ATP Finals will be between the winner of Group Boris Becker, Roger Federer, …
Like David Goffin from the other group, Jack Sock is something of a surprise semi finalist despite his impressive run…
