By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, March 16, 2016
David Goffin exploited an astounding error from Stan Wawrinka to snap a 14-match losing streak vs. Top 10 opponents with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5) win to reach the Indian Wells quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Michael Cummo/BNP Paribas Open
Stretching the court with sharp angles, David Goffin broke Stan Wawrinka's seven times.
Wawrinka nearly broke the Belgian's heart with a spirited comeback.
The biggest break of all came right off Wawrinka's racquet.
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Deadlocked at 5-all in the third-set tie breaker, Wawrinka was a few feet from net when he slapped a routine bounce smash well beyond the baseline.
That mind-blowing miss from the Swiss sparked Goffin, who snapped a 14-match losing streak vs. Top 10 opponents, with a wild 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5) Indian Wells win over Wawrinka that bordered on bizarre.
"(It) was a match without brain, let's put it that way," Wawrinka said with a smile. "Have some tough time to focus, have some tough time to find what I wanted to play and stay calm. Still try to fight. Got lucky to come back twice. Had the chance to finish the tiebreak. I didn't, and quite simple."
It is Goffin's second career victory over a Top 10 player—his first since he defeated Milos Raonic in the 2014 Basel quarterfinals—and sends him into his second career Masters quarterfinal. Goffin twice served for the match, but could not close until he got a helping hand in the tie breaker.
"It's the best win of my career for sure," Goffin told Tennis Channel's Justin Gimelstob and Jon Wertheim. "He didn't give me any points, but this one I take for sure."
The 18th-ranked Belgian has showed stubborn fight reaching his first career Indian Wells quarterfinal. Goffin fought off a pair of match points subduing Frances Tiafoe in the second round before rallying from a set down past Guido Pella in round three.
Next up for Goffin is a rematch with Marin Cilic.
The 2014 US Open champion defeated eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time. Goffin beat Cilic in Davis Cup play earlier this month on the red clay of Liege.
"It was a great match; I played really, really well at home on clay so it was a really, really different match," Goffin said. "I played really good against (Cilic) so hopefully a lot of things I can reproduce. You never know. He has a lot of experience, more than me, in a Masters 1000. So we'll see."
Changing direction at times and working the angles, Goffin earned the first break and a 3-2 lead. Repelling Wawrinka's volatile one-handed backhand with his precise two-hander, Goffin backed up the break.
Quicker off the mark, Goffin beat the two-time Grand Slam champion to the ball earning another break point in the seventh game. Wawrinka wacked it away with a flat backhand down the line, but pushed a lethargic forehand into net for a second break point. When Wawrinka's slice backhand strayed wide, Goffin had the second break and a 5-2 lead.
Serving for the set, Goffin tumbled into a triple-break point hole but bounced right out of it. Drawing an errant forehand, Wawrinka broke back for 3-5.
Wawrinka had won 19 of 20 service games reaching the fourth round, but served just 42 percent in the first set today and was under almost constant pressure. Goffin spun an inside-out forehand to break for the third time and snatch a one-set lead.
Rushing through points on his serve in the second set, Wawrinka looked like a man who wasn't willing to invest the energy or shot combinations to play long rallies. Spiking his racquet to the court, Wawrinka picked up the battered Yonex frame and ripped at the mangled head with his hands before handing the wreckage to a fan.
When Wawrinka sailed a backhand, Goffin scored his fourth consecutive break for a 4-0 second-set lead.
At that point Wawrinka, who was hit with a few foot fault calls, looked totally disinterested. He had won just two points on his serve in the set, losing all eight points on second serve.
Stress relief seemed to help Wawrinka, who broke back for 1-4 then worked out his frustrations crunching his plastic water bottle on the changeover.
Turning his shoulders into his shots, Wawrinka rapped a forehand winner down the line, his second straight break, to get back on serve at 3-4. Wawrinka tried firing himself up with a heart-felt "come on!" but Goffin wasn't fazed.
Spinning a forehand pass down the line, Goffin broke for the sixth time for 5-3. Serving for his second career Masters quarterfinal, Goffin tightened up double faulting to face break point. Scrambling on the defensive, Goffin couldn't finish as Wawrinka snapped off a backhand to break again for 4-5.
A rattled Goffin put a forehand into net and could only watch as Wawrinka rifled a forehand winner down the line. The Swiss threw down a love hold, his fourth straight game, to level the match.
After dropping seven of the last nine games, Goffin snatched the momentum away when Wawrinka double-faulted off the tape handing the Belgian his seventh break and a 2-0 lead in the decider. Goffin saved a break point with a snazzy high backhand volley and forehand pass, extending to 3-0.
Serving for the match at 5-3 nerves got the best of Goffin, who played too cautiously. He saved a pair of break points but poked a backhand down the line into net as Wawrinka broke.
The third-seeded Swiss went up 4-2 in the breaker. At 5-all, Wawrinka was so close to net he could almost touch it when he badly bungled that smash that will surely haunt him. Wawrinka netted a forehand on match point as Goffin close a two hour, 25-minute adventure to raise his record to 2-25 vs. Top 10 opponents.
"For me it was not good entertainment," Goffin said. "I started well, Stan was a little bit struggling with his racquet. I don't know what it was. It was tough to stay focused and then he started to believe and play better and at the end I won this one. I was leading in every set so I I think I deserved this one."