Tennis: Grigor Dimitrov whips David Goffin at the ATP Finals in London

Wednesday’s match, between Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin, was to be a tightly contested battle between the 6th and 7th seeds at the ATP Finals in London. It, however, turned out to be a one-sided affair with Dimitrov winning 6-0, 6-2.

Grigor Dimitrov bagels David Goffin in the first set.

David Goffin played with his left knee taped, but his court movement and speed never seemed affected in any way. The furious pace of their rallies culminated in an early break of Goffin’s serve, which came on a beautifully angled volley by Grigor at 15-40. That early break gave Grigor Dimitrov the opportunity to go 3-0 ahead in the first.

Grigor Dimitrov leads Goffin 6-1, and the first set was yet another one-sided encounter of similar proportions, except when Goffin played his highly effective backhand, to get out of trouble a few times. Dimitrov finished a few points by moving inside the baseline and cutting the angles off at the net. He increased that pressure in the fourth game and earned a double break to go up 4-0. David Goffin donated quite a few freebies in the 6th game to lose the first set 6-0. Dimitrov created seven break point opportunities for himself without offering any to Goffin.

The second set between Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin.

In the second set again, David Goffin presented an early break to Dimitrov for a 2-0 lead. Goffin’s first break-point came in the third game, on a backhand error from Dimitrov, but was quickly erased by Grigor Dimitrov. A few aggressively played points in the fourth, earned Goffin his first game of the match for 1-3. The fifth game of the set was a dogfight, with Goffin trying to earn the break back, and lasted over 9 minutes. In the end, however, Dimitrov managed to hold serve.

Dimitrov earned his first match-point when Goffin’s forehand sailed out of the baseline at 5-2, in the second set. Dimitrov, however, was able to convert his third match point a little later in the game.

About Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin.

The absence of a weapon in David Goffin’s arsenal is perhaps the biggest shortcoming to his prospects of winning a slam sometime soon. Grigor Dimitrov has improved lately and, more importantly, he seems to be moving ahead and towards the net too, and that’s allowing him to play more aggressively.