David Goffin has blown open the ATP Finals with a pulsating three-set victory over world No.1 Rafael Nadal.
The Belgian Davis Cup hero left Nadal needing to win his remaining two round-robin matches to secure a semi-final berth after stunning the French and US Open champion 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 under the closed roof at London’s O2 arena.
In his first outing since withdrawing last week in Basel with a knee injury, Nadal saved four match points to force a third set but not a fifth, with Goffin not to be denied the biggest scalp of his career.
Nadal’s shock defeat comes after Grigor Dimitrov beat Dominic Thiem 6-3 5-7 7-5 in an equally thrilling opening clash in the Pete Sampras Group on Monday.
Dimitrov overcame the disappointment of failing to serve out the match from 5-4 up in the deciding set before breaking Thiem for a third time to finally prevail after almost two and a half hours.
“You fail and then you get back up and go again,” Dimitrov said.
Long touted as a future superstar, Dimtrov is trying to lose his unwanted title as “Baby Fed” for his uncannily similar playing style to Roger Federer.
But the 26-year-old readily concedes it’s taken time to flourish after needing almost a decade to qualify for the elite eight-man tour finale.
“Everybody has a different path, different way,” the 2017 Australian Open semi-finalist said.
“It’s just simple as that. What can I say?
“I think just sooner or later you realise things in life, I mean, whether it’s tennis or whether it’s life. It’s the way you’ve been working, you do the stuff.
“I mean, I think there’s a lot of components that are kind of coming together at some point. You kind of make a decision. My decision’s been made since long time.
“It was just against like fighting with my demons to find the right path to be consistent enough. Other than that, I wouldn’t put anything away.
“I think the best is yet to come. I’m super excited for what’s ahead.
“This is where I always wanted to be at, is among the top players.”
For now, though, Dimitrov is intent on celebrating his historic victory.
“It’s not only big for me. I think it’s for my whole country, for Bulgaria,” he said.
“It’s great for me to show that everything is possible.
“You push the boundaries, doesn’t matter where you’re from, it’s all up to you. Everything is in your hands. Basically, whatever you put in is what you get.”
Nadal plays Thiem on Wednesday and then Dimitrov on Friday, with the top seed’s hopes of winning his first-ever season-ending championship hanging by a thread.
The winner of Wednesday’s Dimitrov v Goffin encounter will clinch a place in the final four.
