Eleventh seed David Goffin battled past wildcard and former world number four Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, to cement his place in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The Belgian was made to work extremely hard but came through the nightmare first round draw to set up a second-round meeting with Benoit Paire.
Del Potro's impenetrable first serve and Goffin's terrible second serve points won percentage were the story of the first set. The Argentine cruised through on serve and one break was enough to give him the first set and the advantage. Goffin looked to be heading out in the second set as he went a break down, but he kept on battling and recovered to take the second set and level the match as Del Potro's first serve percentage started to slip. The tightly contested third set eventually went the way of Goffin. After many wasted leads, the Belgian finally got a break that would leave him serving for the set, and a gutsy hold gave him the win.
Serving masterclass
Goffin looked sharp early on as he eased his way to a quick hold of serve to open the match. Del Potro looked equally as impressive as big first serves followed by quick put aways meant that he raced to a love hold. The Belgian was coming out on top of all the long rallies so far and again held easily to stay ahead at 2-1.
Although Goffin did better on return to get into rallies, they then started to go the way of the Argentine as errors crept into Goffin's game to hand Del Potro his second love hold. Danger followed for Goffin in the next game as he went 0-30 down on serve, but he fought to reel off the next four points and held for 3-2.
Goffin got his first point on the del Potro serve in the sixth game of the match with a good return. A huge crosscourt forehand tied them up at 30-30 but a loose error from the Belgian gave del Potro game point and he held on to erase the danger. A double fault from Goffin gave del Potro the first break point of the match. The Argentine stayed patient to soak up a barrage from the Goffin forehand and the error came to give del Potro the break and a 4-3 lead.
del Potro sailed through another service game to consolidate his lead and go a game away from the first set. Goffin stayed in touch and forced del Potro to serve it out. The impenetrable serving of del Potro continued as the Argentine served out the set to love, only dropping two points on serve on his way to a 6-4 set in 39 minutes.
Back from the brink
Del Potro continued his momentum into the second set, opening with a break of the Goffin serve. The Belgian tried to battle his way out of the 0-40 hole and managed to get to 30-40, but del Potro still managed to break through and take an early lead. His lead was quickly in danger as Goffin had his first real opportunities on return, but del Potro quickly stamped out any hope of a comeback with his bullying forehand pushing Goffin back.
Goffin got his name on the scoreboard with a well-fought hold. The Belgian then got his first break point of the match as del Potro's first serve percentage slipped massively in comparison to the first set. Massive forehands from the Argentine stamped out the danger momentarily as another break point arrived. A forehand into the net gave Goffin the break back and leveled the pair at 2-2.
Another battling hold gave Goffin the lead for the first time in the set. There were opportunities for each player in the next two games, but the breakthrough finally came at a crucial time for Goffin that left him serving to level the match. Del Potro's powerful forehands made life difficult for the Belgian as he was serving for the set as he managed to carve out a breakpoint, but Goffin kept fighting and survived a double fault to take the second set 6-3 and level the match.
Struggling to victory
The third set got underway with an easy hold of serve for del Potro. Two aces from Goffin helped him to a love hold as he looked to take control of the match. Del Potro's form dipped as Goffin started to really push the Argentine on serve to carve out a breakpoint, which he took as a del Potro backhand drifted long to lead 2-1.
Just as the quality of del Potro's forehand looked to be slipping he hit a scorcher down the line that Goffin couldn't get anywhere near. The Argentine started coming in behind the forehand and it was working well as he earned himself two break points. Big serves from Goffin got him out of danger for a moment, but a perfectly placed backhand down the line set up another break point, and del Potro took his chance to bring the set back level at 2-2.
Del Potro looked to be cruising through on serve, but Goffin started painting the lines and reeled off the next three points to bring up another break point. A perfectly timed switch of direction with a bruising backhand down the line gave Goffin the break to regain his lead.
The lead looked to be in danger again as another break point opportunity came for del Potro. Goffin stayed patient in a long baseline rally and waited for the opportunity to crunch a backhand down the line to erase the danger, and the Belgian held on with an excellent volley to lead 4-2.
Del Potro battled from the baseline to get his second hold of the set and keep the deficit down to one break. Once again Goffin had difficulty holding on to his lead. Two break points came for del Potro, and although managing to save one, the Argentine took the second to level the set again at 4-4.
Goffin had opportunities on return again at 15-30 but some loose errors into the net gave del Potro the hold and a 5-4 lead as Goffin served to stay in the match. Goffin dealt with the pressure well to hold easily and put the pressure back on his opponent. The Belgian started returning extremely well to take a 15-30 lead on del Potro's serve. He earned himself a break point opportunity with a loopy forehand down the line, and the break came as del Potro fired a forehand long to give Goffin the chance to serve for the match.
Del Potro wasn't going away just yet, and he started to find great depth in his groundstrokes to trouble Goffin and lead 15-30. A gutsy volley away at the net brought the Belgian back to 30-30, and two straight aces gave Goffin the third set 7-5 and an impressive win over a tough opponent.
