Goffin had to cancel his own farewell party. Today he plays the Brussels fifth seed

By the Data Desk · Published 22 OCT 06:45

First reported by La DH / Les Sports+ · 21 OCT 20:46

David Goffin had a party booked for Wednesday night in Brussels, and he had to call it off himself: "Je vais devoir annuler la fête de ce mercredi soir" (I'm going to have to cancel this Wednesday night's party), he told the Centre Court crowd. The 35-year-old, playing the last tournament of his career, was 3-0 down in the deciding set against lucky loser Remy Bertola and won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

• Goffin, a wildcard, trailed 0-3 in the third set and won six of the last seven games, after more than two hours (La DH, ESPN score).
• It was his first main-draw win of the season, after two exits in qualifying (Tennis Majors).
• Today, Thursday 22 October: Alex Michelsen, the No. 5 seed, second match on Centre Court. The winner meets top seed Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals.

Bertola, 28, ranked No. 219 and in the draw only because Holger Rune pulled out, was playing just the second ATP main-draw match of his career (La DH, Sporza). He led 4-1 in the first set and took it in 39 minutes, then broke at the start of the third after a Goffin double fault. Goffin got the break back, broke again for 5-4 and, in tears according to La DH, served it out with a winner, then fell to his knees on match point.

Afterwards he joked his way through the plans. "C'est quoi quatre matchs dans une carrière ?" (What are four matches in a career?), he said of the four wins still between him and the title, as quoted by La DH. About the tribute the tournament had prepared, he laughed: "Merci de me le dire, cela a gâché la surprise" (Thanks for telling me, that spoiled the surprise). He had walked out in a training jacket that read "Game, set et merci, La Goff" on the back.

The numbers behind the farewell are big ones. Goffin reached seventh in the world in 2017, the best ranking of any Belgian man in ATP history, and that November he beat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on the way to the ATP Finals final, which he lost to Grigor Dimitrov. Tennis Majors credits him with the Open Era records for wins and titles by a Belgian man, six titles in all. This is his eighth European Open, level with Richard Gasquet for the most appearances in the event's history.

What happens next: Michelsen is 22 and Goffin has never played him. "Je n'ai rien à perdre" (I have nothing to lose), Goffin told Belga, adding that whatever comes now is a bonus. Play on Centre Court starts at 13:30 Brussels time (11:30 UTC) with Jiri Lehecka against another Belgian, Raphael Collignon, and Goffin v Michelsen follows.