Whenever Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray are done winning Grand Slam titles and monopolizing the top spots in the rankings, David Goffin and Dominic Thiem could be at the top of men’s tennis. For now, both Goffin and Thiem are in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in their careers.
Goffin took care of Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Roland Garros, while Thiem joined him in the last eight by beating Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-4.
Gulbis’ handshake with chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore:
In his rain-delayed contest against Gulbis, Goffin–who trailed 3-0 in the first set prior to Wednesday–committed a mere 16 unforced errors to Gulbis’ 68.
“Happiness, of course,” the 13th-ranked Belgian said when asked how it feels to be in the quarters. “Total bliss. And these three days (of rain) were very tiring. It was tough; two days when we almost didn’t play at all–so a bit like nightmare. I played a good match today…so I’m going to enjoy it now. But then tomorrow we’re back again.”
Thiem will also be back one day after finish his fourth-round tilt, although he played just two sets against Granollers on Wednesday. After splitting the first two, the 15th-ranked Austrian cruised through the last two upon resumption.
“It’s a real great thing,” Thiem said of making it this far at a major, an accomplishment he admitted had left a glaring hole in his otherwise sparkling resume. “Like two years ago I was here with Ernests and he played (in the) semifinals, back then I couldn’t really imagine that I’d go this far myself one day. It’s already here like two years later, and it feels really good.”
A breakthrough run to the quarters of a slam will not be the only accomplishment in store for either Goffin or Thiem. The stakes for their upcoming head-to-head battle simply could not be higher for a quarterfinal. The Goffin-Thiem winner will not only reach a Grand Slam semi for the first time in his career, but he will also reach the top 10 for the first time ever next week. The loser will be No. 11.
“I’m very proud to have made it (to the quarterfinals),” Goffin assured. “But I wasn’t obsessed with it. I’m not obsessed with my ranking or my results. I wanted to do my best so that these things would happen. And when they do happen, it really shows that the work you put in before bears fruit–pays off.”
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I only watched the last 2 sets of goffin d gulbis, all one way traffic, I wonder how gulbis won that first set. Nevertheless a good result for gulbis considering the year