Goffin shocks second-seeded Alcaraz

Photo by Peter Staples/ATP Tour

By Harvey Fialkov

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – On Thursday night Andy Murray tweeted about the sensational atmosphere on Stadium Court at Hard Rock Stadium during the riveting match between Next Gen teen stars Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca, and said, “Tennis isn’t broken!”

He also tweeted that he couldn’t wait for Fonseca and Carlos Alcaraz’s first meeting.

Murray and the rest of the tennis world will have to wait a little longer as late Friday, the 34-year-old Belgian backboard David Goffin stunned the pro-Alcaraz stadium crowd with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the charismatic Spaniard in the second round of the Miami Open Masters 1000 presented by Itaú.

The 5-foot-11, 55th-ranked Goffin showed no fear against the second-seeded Alcaraz, as he has a history of giant-slaying. Instead of a slingshot this David uses his baseline blasts to knock off 20 Top 10 opponents and eight Top 3 adversaries. Alcaraz was world No. 1 when Goffin shocked him 7-5, 6-3 in a round-of-32 match at the Astana ATP 500 in Kazakhstan in 2022, just two months after the 19-year-old had won the US Open.

The last time Goffin took out a Top 3 player was at the Shanghai Masters 1000 when he vanquished then third-ranked Alexander Zverev, 6-4,7-5 in the round of 16. So Alcaraz makes three Top 3 victims in a row by Goffin, who was ranked 134th last April.

“It’s the kind of night I will remember for sure, the stadium like that and the night gives me a lot of confidence to continue,’’ said Goffin, who was ranked seventh in 2017 and has six singles titles with four quarterfinal finishes in Grand Slams.

Goffin says he’s still playing because he wants to see how he compares with the best players on the planet and also for his 1-year-old daughter Emma and wife Stephanie, who wished him luck before the match but went back to their hotel to watch on television.

“I proved to myself that I can still make some great matches and do some damage on the tour,’’ he said. “I’m close to being back in the Top 50 and that’s great and when I play like tonight it gives me hope and confidence to try to be higher in the ranking.”

On Thursday night the pro-Brazilian crowd roared their approval for Fonseca, their 18-year-old wonderkid, and in Friday’s first set, the oohs and ahs as well as shouts of “Vamos!” were reserved for Carlitos, the Spanish successor to Rafael Nadal, who by the way Goffin downed twice when he was No. 1.

In the opening set, the four-time Grand Slam champion and 2023 Miami Open king, dazzled with his full arsenal of electrifying shot-making, particularly on his many forays to the net where he showed off his finesse with delicate drop volleys. However, the match was closer than anyone expected as Goffin stubbornly hung around.

Still, the two were on serve, until Goffin was broken at 5-6, 15-40 when his backhand soared wide.

In the second set, Goffin made his daughter proud as he broke Alcaraz to go up 5-4 with a high backhand angled-off volley. The crowd actually cheered Goffin, because they wanted more tennis. They got it when Goffin ripped a backhand pass for 40-15 before a service winner knotted the match.

The difference was in the first set, Alcaraz converted 9-of-11 net forays, but just 2-of-9 in the second. Goffin, who averages just 109-mph compared to Alcaraz’ 124-mph delivery, never faced a break point in the second set.

“It was a poor level for me,’’ Alcaraz said at about 12:30 a.m. “He increased his level after the first set with a high percentage of first serves which helped his level. I didn’t play well. Physically, I didn’t feel well. When you don’t feel well physically, it’s tough to maintain a good level of tennis.

“Playing down a break in the third set and not feeling well physically is really tough to [win].”

The usually care-free Spaniard was clearly saddened by the loss. He said his legs felt heavy which may be why he seemed to be scattering his usually laser-accurate forehands (42 errors to 26 for Goffin).

“I knew I had the game to cause him some trouble,’’ Goffin said. “I had a clear game plan but sometimes he is too good even if you have a game plan.’’

Goffin went on to explain his strategy which entailed not giving Alcaraz, “time to load his shot, and from the return I was taking the ball really early and aiming for his feet.”

Goffin immediately broke to start the third set and then held a break point to go up 3-0 but was thwarted on a nifty, crosscourt, backhand volley by Alcaraz, who eventually held and waved his racket to the fans.

The match was then delayed briefly as the thousands of fans brought back the old baseball wave in the stands.

Goffin held for 3-1, and Alcaraz brought the fans to their feet with a backhand up the line to maintain a loose grip on his comeback hopes.

Alcaraz dropped to 21-2 against players outside the Top 50 since March 2024.

In the late match on Grandstand, Tommy Paul, the 12th seed who lives in nearby Boca Raton, fought back from a set down to dispatch the magical strokes of Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik to prevail 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 in 2:09.

Paul improved to 13-1 against players outside the Top 50 this year. The 27-year-olds littered the court with aces, 36 in all, however Bublik tossed in 10 double-faults to go with his 19 aces. Paul smacked 39 winners with just 27 unforced errors, compared to 48 errors from his happy-go-lucky opponent, who is now 0-3 against the American.