Goffin Saves 4 MP, Survives In Five
David Goffin saved four match points to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros for the third time on Saturday, defeating home favourite Gael Monfils 6-7(6), 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
The World No. 9 led by a break at 3-2 in the third set before the match was suspended on Friday, but looked in real danger of elimination as Monfils took charge upon the resumption of play.
The Frenchman served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set but Goffin, as he did in the first round, held his nerve to battle back. The Nitto ATP Finals runner-up saved four match points in a marathon 10th game to level the scores at 5-5, before forcing a decider and sealing the victory after just under four hours.
"[During the] four match points I was just focused on what I had to do," said Goffin. "I just had to control the point and to be aggressive, because I knew if I gave him only one opportunity to take the point, he will take it with his forehand. So I had to be really aggressive, and that's what I did."
Goffin hit 54 winners en route to a milestone victory which saw him take sole ownership of third place for most matches won by a Belgian man at Roland Garros, moving ahead of Xavier Malisse, with 14 wins.
"I came back to the court today very well. I was able to impose my game, my tactics. And David played very well," said Monfils. "He was able to fight back at the decisive moment... Congratulations to him. It's really fantastic what he did, and that's really the token of a champion."
Standing between Goffin and a place in the quarter-finals is Italy's Marco Cecchinato. The Italian has enjoyed a breakthrough European clay season, having won his first ATP World Tour title at the Gazprom Hungarian Open in April.
"[Cecchinato] is a great player. He's improving. He won a lot of matches. He won his first title in Budapest... He has nothing to lose," said Goffin.
In other action, Karen Khachanov needed just seven games to complete his third-round match, defeating France's Lucas Pouille 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
Khachanov, who led Pouille 6-3, 7-5, 1-1 before play was suspended on Friday, returned to Court Philippe Chatrier in similar form, winning five of seven games to clinch his second win in three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against the Frenchman. Khachanov has now beaten Pouille twice on home soil this year, having also triumphed in the Open 13 Provence final to win his second ATP World Tour title.
"The match went really well on my side from the beginning until the end," said Khachanov. "The match was suspended yesterday, so it was not easy to come back again and win this set... I'm just happy that it went perfectly all the way through from the beginning until the end."
Khachanov hit 32 winners and won 73 per cent of net points (17/23) against the Open Sud de France champion to secure his place in the Round of 16 for the second straight year, after two hours and 24 minutes.
The 22-year-old will meet No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev in the Round of 16 with both men bidding to reach their maiden Grand Slam quarter-final. Zverev leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-0, having beaten Khachanov on home soil at the 2016 St. Petersburg Open.
"We know each other pretty well from juniors... [Zverev] is a tough opponent, but we are in the fourth round. Only the best players are still in the tournament, so hopefully it can be a good match," said Khachanov.
Did You Know?
Karen Khachanov and Lucas Pouille's only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings came just three days apart. Khachanov defeated Pouille to win the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, before Pouille returned the favour the following week to reach the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarter-finals.