Goffin Makes Winning Comeback In Umag
Goffin Makes Winning Comeback In Umag
Top seed Goffin playing first tournament since Roland Garros
Top seed David Goffin enjoyed a winning return to action on Wednesday at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag as he defeated qualifier Attila Balazs 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals in Umag.
The Belgian was back on the match court for the first time since suffering a right ankle injury when he fell in his third-round match with Horacio Zeballos at Roland Garros in May.
Goffin missed three opportunities to seal his comeback victory in straight sets in the second set tie-break, but raced through the decider against his No. 174-ranked opponent to prevail in two hours and 21 minutes.
The 26-year-old Goffin is making his debut at this ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament and goes on to face Ivan Dodig. The Croatian saved one match point as he battled past Marco Cecchinato 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2. The Italian was on the brink of victory as he led 6/5 in the tie-break, but Dodig held on to win the next three points and quickly raced to a 4-1 lead in the decider before advancing.
Zagreb native Dodig is enjoying his best run on the singles court in Umag and will look to beat Goffin for the first time (0-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head) to reach his first ATP singles semi-final since Tokyo in October 2013 (l. to Raonic).
Eighth seed Jiri Vesely, making his fifth straight appearance in Umag, defeated Radu Albot 7-6(3), 6-2 in one hour and 38 minutes. Enjoying his best run in Umag, the 24-year-old Vesely is through to his third ATP quarter-final of the season and goes on to face fourth seed Paolo Lorenzi, who was a 7-5, 6-3 winner over Aljaz Bedene. Ten years Vesely’s senior, Lorenzi will look to overturn a 0-3 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Czech.
Milestone Win For Nestor
Top seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor cruised into the Umag quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Mikhail Elgin and Denis Istomin. The 44-year-old Nestor, who is competing in Umag for the first time in his 27-year career, made it a memorable visit to the Istrian coast as he notched his 1,050th tour-level doubles win.
Watch Live On TennisTV
Watch Full Match Replays