Goffin sets up Federer semi at ATP Finals

DavidGoffin pummelled his good friend Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1 to advance tothe semi-finals of the ATP Finals yesterday, where he will have thedaunting task of facing Roger Federer.The Belgian, who was soundlybeaten in his previous round-robin match by group winner GrigorDimitrov, had a shaky start, losing the first three games, but lost onlytwo games after that in the entire match as he romped to victory in 71minutes.“It was a pity to play against Dominic, he is such a goodfriend and a nice guy. It’s never easy to play against a friend,” saidGoffin, who beat world number one Rafael Nadal over three punishing setsin his opening match.“After the first match against Rafael I wastedso much energy, I was not ready for Grigor, but I had a good restyesterday and was ready for today and I hope I can do the same for thesemi-finals,” he added.The seventh seed admitted Federer, gunningfor his seventh end-of-year title, would be a tough opponent on theindoor hard court at London’s O2 Arena but said he had “nothing tolose”.Goffin, 26, looked out of sorts at the start of the match,being broken to love in his first service game, but reeled off 15 pointsin a row to change the complexion of the match completely.Two breaks of serve were enough to seal the set 6-4.Thiemheld up Goffin’s charge, receiving medical treatment for an apparentcut on his left knee between sets, but the Belgian was quickly into hisstride again, reeling off six games in a row to win the set 6-1 and sealan emphatic win.Austria’s fourth-seeded Thiem struggled badly onserve throughout, managing to land just 39 % of first serves in thesecond set as his opponent and regular practice partner took fulladvantage.The pair were playing off for the last semi-final spotafter Federer, Dimitrov and Jack Sock sealed their places earlier in theweek.Up against Federer, Goffin was not full of confidence about his chances at London’s O2 Arena.“I’venever found a key to beat Roger,” said the seventh seed. “Honestly, Idon’t know what to do tomorrow. But I’m going to try something,something different, something that I’ve never done in the past.”TheBelgian has never beaten 19-time Grand Slam champion Federer in sixmatches and most recently clashed with him in Basel last month, where hewon just three games in a one-sided contest.“I will try to do my best to play a better match than in Basel, for sure,” he told reporters at his post-match press conference.“InBasel it was not easy. He played well. He didn’t miss. He was reallyaggressive, as always. He returned so well. So it was not easy in Basel.“I hope that tomorrow he’s not going to play the same match. But I will try something different for sure.”The26-year-old said he would have to change his gameplan from the one heused against Nadal earlier in the week as he was facing six-time winnerFederer on one of his favoured surfaces.“Against Roger, on his bestsurface, it’s indoor,” said Goffin. “It’s this surface, along with thegrass. There is no wind. It’s tough to play higher, to find the loopwhen you play here on this kind of surface.“It’s not easy. It’sperfect for Roger. But I will try, like I said, to do my best tomorrowto find some solutions, try to play my game, yeah, be aggressive. Ifhe’s aggressive and he hits the ball really hard with his forehand, he’sdangerous.”