By Chris Oddo | Wednesday March 30, 2016
David Goffin reached his second consecutive Masters 1000 semifinal with a three-set win over Gilles Simon on Wednesday in Miami.
Photo Source: BNP Paribas Open
David Goffin’s run of impressive form has taken him back to the semifinals of a Masters 1000 draw for the second consecutive event. The Belgian, the first from his country to reach the quarterfinals at Miami, ousted Gilles Simon, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 to set up an encounter with either Novak Djokovic or Tomas Berdych on Friday.
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“Of course I’m feeling so good,” said an elated Goffin after the match. “I served really well today—it helped me a lot against a great returner like Gilles.”
Goffin improved to 16-5 on the season with his first career win over the Frenchman. He has won 16 of 22 matches at the Masters level since the beginning of Rome last season; before that point he was 11-14 overall at the level.
Simon drew first blood in the opener, and saved all six break points he faced to hang on to take a one set to love lead.
But the Frenchman mustered very little resistance from that point on. Goffin broke five times on six opportunities in the final two sets as the 31-year-old World No. 19 proceeded to lose his way in the windy conditions.
Goffin dropped just four points on serve in the final set. He built a double-break lead and served the match out to close affairs in one hour and 57 minutes.
“In the third set the serve was there, completely,” said Goffin.
The Belgian is 0-3 lifetime versus Djokovic, but did take the World No. 1 to three sets in their last meeting (Cincinnati, ’15). He is 0-2 versus Berdych.