Grigor Dimitrov must have been thinking that if he could get past Jack Sock at the Nitto ATP Finals, he would go up against the player he has emulated. Instead, he will go up against a player he has owned.
Dimitrov set up a showdown with David Goffin in the last ATP match of 2017 after the Bulgarian defeated Jack Sock 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the London semis on Saturday night. That was preceded by Goffin’s shocking 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset of Roger Federer. The result is a ninth career battle–and second this week–between Dimitrov and Goffin, with the former dominating the head-to-head series 7-1 (4-1 on the main-tour level).
They just faced each other three days ago during round-robin action at the O2 Arena, where Dimitrov cruised 6-0, 6-2.
Goffin can only hope things will be different three days later. The Belgian can at least take heart in the fact that things were extremely different from one match against Federer to the next. Three weeks before taking down the world No. 2 in London, Goffin got blown out by Federer 6-1, 6-2 in Basel.
Aside from his humiliation at Dimitrov’s hands, Goffin has been outstanding this week–and this entire fall. The recent Shenzhen and Tokyo champion is 3-1 at the year-end championship with victories over Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Dominic Thiem. Having bookended his run so far with defeats of Nadal and Federer, Goffin is just the sixth player in history to beat both of those all-time greats at the same tournament.
Nobody, though, has been better than Dimitrov over the past seven days. The world No. 6, once labeled “Baby Fed,” is undefeated with wins at the expense of Goffin Sock, Thiem, and Pablo Carreno Busta. He has surrendered sets only to Sock and Thiem, and set scores of 6-0, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, and 6-0 have highlighted his trip to the championship match. Overall, Dimitrov is 47-19 this season and will finish at No. 3 in the world.
“If you have watched some matches this week, you know the answer,” Goffin responded when asked if he would rather play Dimitrov or Sock in the final. “It will be something different (from our previous match), hopefully…. I hope to play the tennis I played [on Saturday]. I’ll try to be more aggressive…. We will see. I will try something different than in [round-robin].
In conclusion he joked, “It won’t be difficult to do better than on Wednesday.”
“I wish I could just press replay,” Dimitrov said of their round-robin encounter. “I’m sure neither one of us is going to think about that. I cannot just say one thing in particular (that makes Goffin dangerous). He had a few good wins already. Has been playing well through the end of the year. So I think he’s still got a lot of confidence. I think obviously none of us has [anything] to lose.”
Both players are correct. Goffin can’t possibly do any worse, and neither has anything to lose in this surprising final. It will be far more competitive than on Wednesday, but Dimitrov has been the best player in the field from start to finish this week.
Pick: Dimitrov in 3
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who ya got?
Dimi in three.
What a WTF this one, with matches mostly ending in three sets. At least not many 6-1, 6-0 type of matches, so far only four straight sets matches, three of them from the Sampras group.
I want D. Goffin to win but….lol!
Dimitrov in 2. Also predictions for the slams next year: AO- Rafa, FO- Rafa, Wimbledon- Djokovic and USO- Djokovic/Nadal. Those two will dominate with Fed in the Side in third
Why not pick Rafa to win it all?
AO- rafa.
FO- rafa.
Wimby- rafa.
USO- rafa.
It’s better this way, it’s a lovely dream and I wish sweet dreams.
Goodnight.
What sort of reasons can you provide for your predictions for next season? You haven’t even see Djokovic swing a racquet yet haha. Oliver, it’s always pretty obvious that you confuse “predictions” with “what I want to happen”…. A person who is as biased toward Federer as you are toward Rafa could easily say they predict Federer to win AO, Djokovic to win RG, Federer to win Wimbledon, and Djokovic/Federer to win US Open, and that would be equally not based in reality.
True Kevin..next year id wide open..no can say who is the favorite at any slam..There are question marks around both Feds and Rafas fitness as well as what form Novak/Andy/Stan will return back with. It can also be the year we can have a first time slam winner from next gen like Dimi or Zverev
Don’t worry Kev there’s absolutely no logic behind his picks ever. He just picks for Rafa and against Fed whenever he can. Typical Trolliver lol. He even claimed to have picked every slam finalist and winner right this year in some post a couple months ago. No chance he was telling the truth cuz there is no way he would have ever picked Fed to win at both AO and Wimbledon.
Rafa for AO? Not looking likely.
what makes you say that? Are you saying not likely to win or not likely to play?
He means to win. I would be surprised if Rafa won AO looking at his current physical state. But if he recovers…. we’ll just have to wait and see how he looks before Melbourne I guess. Same w Roger who must be feeling pretty dinged up after a 52 win season at 36 years old.
I think too Fedal is having not so great chances at AO18,but then who will win if not one of them? It’s a mystery around AO18. There are too many unknown variables here. Djokovic and Murray are big question marks. I think Dimitrov might have a decent chance if he keeps healthy. He as build the momentum and plays solid. Can’t wait for an exciting AO.
Dimi for AO2018! (If my fave Rafa can’t win it).
luckystar AT 10:53 AM.
Speaking of Rafa & Dimi, the latter was thankful to Rafa for practicing together in summer at Rafa’s academy. They are going to practice again together in December in Manacor. 🙂
Dani Vallverdu, Dimitrov’s coach, arranged their week-long joint training in summer.
AO the most unpredictable for years , with so many returning from breaks. Will have to wait !
I’m taking Grigor in three too
Goffin in 3.
I like both guys. May the best win. I think if Goffin loses, it’s gonna be fine for him. He still won Fedal and that’s a major milestone for him already. Dimitrov is been up there for longer. I think Dimi will close it in 2. Both players will like their chances at AO18.
It would be difficult but I want D. Goffin to win.
This is not my prediction, it’s what I want and Goffin can do it.
I am rooting 4 the guy.
Dimi imo is the best player this tournament so far, not losing a match, followed by Goffin who lost a RR match but won the SF. Well done to both. If Dimi holds his nerve, he should win the final, in three sets most likely.
I hope Rafa wins AO 18 so that he can get the double career slam ..he came close twice to get it..He deserves it after coming so close..I personally will stop bothering about Rafa once he gets double career slam as to me as a fan, that will be enough 🙂
Sanju i love your summary 😉
I Like both players, but im pulling for Goffin as he beat Fedal b2b, arguably the two greatest players ever, and i think he had the more difficult group too, i belive its only fair and makes more sense to me, even though Goffin lost a match, and even though Dimi went unbeaten in his group, props to Jack Sock for a great run in this tournament ….
Alison…don’t PULL Goffin too hard, he might just fall down! Look how weak and frail Goffin looks. Looks like he has NOT eaten for ages!Ha,ha,ha…
“I Like both players, but im PULLing for Goffin”!lol
I bet on DIMI yesterday ML, but I will be rooting for Goffin hard as my heart is always with the underDOGS both in life and in sports! I have a BIG DOG in me! Wow,Wow…Who let this dog out? Wow,Wow
Now sing…Who let this dog out? Wow,Wow…lol
If Goffin can play as aggressive as he did against Federer then he has a shot. Goffin outplayed Roger in aggressiveness .. http://www.138mph.com/tennis-david-goffin-played-more-aggressive-than-roger-federer-to-win-the-semifinals-at-the-atp-finals-in-london/
Kavita, I completely agree with you.
Along with his aggressiveness, Goffin served & volleyed far better than Federer (which is Fed’s forte infact)…coming to the net many times! He was aggressive on his returns from baseline also which shocked Federer.
Roger lost because Goffin took ALL the pages out of Roger’s (Tennis Strategy Book) book!lol Dimi now hide your book (Tennis Strategy Book) before Goffin steals it from you today!Ha,ha,ha…
Goffin turtled Roger’s ship and Roger couldn’t make it upright (however hard he tried) and finally drowned (lost)!lol
Did Goffin take some “Belgian Voodoo(ic) Energy Cocktail” after his 1st set against Federer? We need to check Goffin’s drinks (water etc.) for foreign substances!Ha,ha,ha…
Goffin served 7 aces and won 74% of 1st serve points. Goffin had 67% break point conversion compared to 17% for Roger. He beat Roger in virtually every department yesterday.
If Goffin can bring his “Roger form”!lol, then he has a good chance of upsetting Dimi (Lovato) today! Be-aware DIMI bettors!Ha,ha,ha…
Kavita, thanks for posting the many tennis weblinks here.
Are you the owner of http://www.138mph.com? Nicely written articles with in-depth match details.
Kavita, what is the significance of 138mph based on which you named your website?
I think Kavita owns the site, not bad.
Thnx. Stan. I want to hear it from the horse’s (I mean Kavita’s!lol) mouth!lol
She has a nice style of writing with match details. Must be a very good observer!
Kavita is a troll.
Lol!
Not fair.
Gotta go with Dimitrov for the win. If Goffin plays the same way he did yesterday in the 2nd and 3rd sets, it will be very tricky for Dimitrov to turn it around and then we won’t see a replay of the RR match for sure. We all know how Dimitrov normally folds in big matches and there’s the dangerous possibility of Goffin entering the court emotionally empty, after getting the biggest win of his career yesterday, so it’s really hard to predict who will have the upper hand.
In the end, I’ll be happy with whoever takes the title 🙂
I think Dimitrov will win. Maybe Goffin will take a set, but Dimitrov will probably take it in the end. Prediction: Dimitrov in 3
Goffin, baby!
Please don’t lose, take this home.
I’m torn between these two players. It is good to see Dimi at last living up to his early promise after being in the doldrums for far too long but I also admire Goffin for his dogged persistance. It’s hard to tell how much his leg injury might hamper him but I’m hoping he can replicate yesterday’s level of play.
Goffin has a good chance.Im reminded of the year Davydenko won,quite a similar player.
But Dimitrov in three .
Looks like 2009 Fed vs Davy, at least a little bit, but I’ve to say Davy played better than this Goffin. Both guys play attacking all court tennis with some varieties, nice.
I’m favouring Goffin right now. The 100$ question is if he can keep up this level for three sets.
This is turning out to be quite the battle. If it couldn’t be Rafa and Fed then I think we got the two guys who are playing the best.
Native, are u watching the match?
Yes I am watching the match.
Don’t lie, who were u rooting 4 b4 Goffin lost the 1st set.
That was really poor from Goffin. His serve let him down. So Dimi gets the first set.
😥.
Come on Goffin let’s do this… lol!
Dimi is holding serve, Goffin missed a good opportunity in the 1st set.