Grigor Dimitrov will finish the 2017 ranked No. 3 in the world behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. With Nadal and Federer already out of the Nitto ATP Finals, the title was Dimitrov’s to win or lose.
He won it.
Capping off the best season of his career with his biggest title, the Bulgarian outlasted David Goffin 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the London championship match on Sunday evening. Both players were contesting the most important final of their professional lives, and it was Dimitrov who survived a spirited effort by Goffin after two and half hours.
It was–thankfully for fans inside the O2 Arena–a far cry from had transpired between Dimitrov and Goffin just four days earlier. In a Wednesday afternoon round-robin battle, Dimitrov dominated the Belgian 6-0, 6-2 in less than half the time (one hour and 13 minutes) it took for him to finish off Goffin in the final. A much different Goffin showed up on Sunday, clearly taking confidence from having scored his first-ever win over Federer via a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 decision in the semifinals. That made Goffin just the sixth player in history to beat both Nadal and Federer in the same tournament.
The previous five combined to accomplish the Nadal-Federer double 11 times, and on all 11 occasions they went home with the winner’s trophy. Goffin almost made it 12 for 12.
With momentum in hand after leveling the match at a set apiece, the world No. 8 made a push to take control early in the third. Goffin generated four break points, but he sent a backhand past the baseline on one and watched Dimitrov hit three unreturned serves on the others. The seventh seed saved a break point, himself, in the next game before the final turning point came at 2-3. Dimitrov missed a break chance at 30-40, fought off two game points, and then broke for 4-2 on his second opportunity when Goffin erred on a backhand.
Still, there was more drama to be had. Goffin somehow managed to survive a triple match point situation at 2-5, 0-40. He ended up winning five straight points to hold before saving a fourth championship point with a forehand winner at 5-4, 40-15. Dimitrov finally crossed the finish line on his fifth chance, when he scrambled to track down an approach shot and saw Goffin net the ensuing backhand drop-volley.
“Obviously (I was) a little nervous towards the end of the match, which is I think quite normal,” the 26-year-old admitted.
And why not? Of his seven previous titles, only one was of the Masters 1000 variety to go along with a pair of 500s.
“It’s a special event,” Dimitrov said of the year-end championship. “I mean, you don’t get the chance to play that…well, sometimes you get the chance to play that every year…but sometimes you don’t. For me, the way that the year has been, I felt I deserved to be here.”
Goffin felt the same way for himself–especially after ousting Nadal and Federer earlier in the week–but pointed out that his opponent deserved it, too.
“I think I deserve the win today, of course,” Goffin said. “But Grigor, also, he deserves the win. He was unbeatable this week. He played really great tennis; was really solid from the first match until the end. So he deserves completely to be here and to win the tournament. Even if I won against Rafa and Roger, I lost the final. But, anyway, it was a great week. I have no regrets after that match.”
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