Djokovic crushes Goffin to reach ninth Wimbledon semifinal
July 13, 2019
Wimbledon, London (CNN)With Cori “Coco” Gauff’s breakthrough, an early blockbuster between Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios and Serena Williams and Andy Murray featuring in mixed doubles, Novak Djokovic has largely gone unnoticed this Wimbledon — barring issues surrounding the ATP’s player council, of which he is the president.
Once the world No. 1 overturned a first-set deficit he cruised against Goffin 6-4 6-0 6-2 to reach a ninth semifinal at SW19.
That ties the 15-time grand slam champion with his influential former coach Boris Becker.
Semifinal clash
Djokovic won’t be expected to slip up when he next faces Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, who defeated maiden grand slam quarterfinalist Guido Pella of Argentina 7-5 6-4 3-6 6-3, then pointed to the sky a year after his mom died.
Bautista Agut is 2-0 against the Serbian in 2019 but as the 23rd-ranked Goffin discovered, getting the better of Djokovic at a grand slam is another matter altogether.
The Belgian upended a slumping Djokovic on the clay in Monte Carlo in 2017 yet was swept aside on the grass Wednesday by a Djokovic in great form.
Rafa, Roger to meet again?
If Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal win later against Kei Nishkori and Sam Querrey respectively, the Big Three would all land in the semifinals at Wimbledon for the first time since the rain soaked 2007 edition.
Perhaps more relevantly, though, is that Federer and Nadal would face off for the first time at Wimbledon since the colossal 2008 final, considered by many to be greatest tennis match ever.
Plucky Goffin
One of the biggest moments of Goffin’s career came in London two years ago, making the final of the year-end championships.
Health issues — including being hit in the eye by his own volley — stunted his momentum but the quick, flashy shotmaker is rediscovering some of his best tennis.
He had the better of the exchanges against Djokovic in the opening stages and turned that superiority into a break at 3-3.
But when Goffin proceeded to drop serve from 30-0 in the next game, the match was realistically over.
Ten games in a row put Djokovic in complete control and he walked off court in one hour, 57 minutes.
The big-serving Querrey attempts to oust Nadal at Wimbledon later after defeating Djokovic in 2016 and Murray in 2017. If Nishikori trumps Federer, he would become Japan’s first men’s semifinalist at Wimbledon since 1933.
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