David Goffin defeated Marin Cilic 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open, the best result so far of the Belgian’s career.
Cilic was the second higher-seeded player to lose to 15th-seeded Goffin, who upset No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round. Cilic lost to Goffin nearly two weeks ago on clay in Belgium during first-round Davis Cup play.
Goffin needed a third-set tiebreaker to beat Wawrinka after the 25-year-old Belgian served for the match at 5-3 in the second and third sets. The 10th-seeded Cilic fell to 0-8 in quarterfinals at Masters 1000 events.
Goffin, a slender 5-foot-11, withstood the power of Cilic, who is 6-6 and outweighs Goffin by 46 pounds.
”I knew that on my serve I had to battle to win every service game because sometimes he can serve bombs and in 10 seconds can win his games,” said Goffin, who fell down at 5-4 in the first set.
”It was just bad for me, but at the end I stayed focused in the tiebreak. It was the key of the match to win the first set and be more relaxed in the second to play much better.”
Credit: AP
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