EXPECTATIONS FROM RG THROUGH WIMBLEDON
Ever since that overhead smash fiasco against Djokovic in Miami earlier this year, I have carefully been observing that aspect of David's game, and from whatever matches I have seen,
I am happy to report a 100% success on those sitters. Indeed it seems the lessons from that loss hit him hard enough to hopefully never miss another easy overhead smash again, esp. on the big occasions!
Another observation which a few of us fans have similarly made is that through the clay season, he seemed to be able to grind out matches that he didn't get any momentum from. We saw that particularly in his wins against Lopez and Verdasco at Monte Carlo. But it took the toll when he lost to Granollers, and where he was similarly out of touch but fighting through. His sluggishness and early exits followed in Munich and Madrid, except that in Madrid while playing Pouille, there was a vast difference in the way he began the match and how it ended for him. The second and third sets saw the kind of Goffin we want to see more of - the aggression was there, he was painting the lines, hitting deep, creating angles consistently, and though he choked the match to Pouille (who played awesome!), I think Goff understood the real level he needs to sustain to remain competitive at the top. This is exactly the kind of loss a top player can learn from.
Come Rome, we saw him continue closer to where he left off with Pouille, winning matches against Mayer and Sock. But the crowning glory of his sustained aggressive style came as we all know, in the Berdych match, where he was so "zoned in" to his own game from the first point, that nothing could go wrong; a match eerily similar to Federer's double bagel of Del Potro AO 09. And though he began the match in the same vein against Murray, he still lost - but again, there's things he always can and ideally should already have taken from this loss.
To begin with, the easiest way to get a report card on your improvement is to go battle a top player. They will be merciless and break all your delusions because they are the ones that play for glory - those are the names that are remembered generations after others have come and gone. And in the field of pro players, you have to earn that privilege to get that report card, by playing match-by-match till you finally play them. I don't even care if his H2H against the 4-6 top players remains terminally lopsided; if by playing them, he is reminded of the mental and physical standards he must sustain to himself remain at the top, he must hope to play them more and more, for his own abilities will get better by that exposure, and he will surely arrive at the top ten and naturally become impervious to the players ranked below him.
Regarding the Rome match, Murray as such is a bad match up for Goffin, but he did manage to break Murray thrice in the match. Irrespective of the outcome, he was playing aggressive which is a very good sign, because this attitude is what will work to quickly dispatch players he shouldn't be going into endless battles with: players like Granollers who lose the very next match.
So here's hoping Goffin will keep this new level, practice more with this newfound aggression in mind, concentrating point by point and going boldly for his shots because that's his personal best level - his "base level" to sustain in order to be a top 5-10 player. And while we appreciate that he can grind out the matches he's not totally focused on as we saw early in clay season; his concentration itself must improve so that he reaches more naturally to his best level. He has the fire, he has the talent - he just has to become consistently as good as he can, and the more he will play at that level we saw later in Rome, the more he'll earn the privilege to play top players, and the more he'll naturally be zoned more often in that the exquisite state of "flow" where nothing can go wrong.
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As for the current RG line up, he has a very good chance to play Nadal on clay. But he has to give full attention to four opponents before that can even happen. "One slip and down the hole we fall," as Pink Floyd sang...
Rd 1 has Barrere whom he has never played. Barrere could be tricky, but I'm hoping David comes through playing aggressively, and with full concentration, without grinding. This should be a pro job in straights.
Rd 2 is either Lorenzi whom he convincingly defeated before or 33 year old Warlocq, which might be fun. Straights please!
Rd 3 is most likely Kohli who won Munich and is a proven warrior on clay. This might well go to four sets, but if Goffin plays aggressively, he has the added advantage of being younger, and also quicker feet and might finish earlier. H2H is 2-1 in Goff's favor.
Rd 4 should be Tsonga, but he has had the upper hand on Tsonga of late (H2H is 2-3 in Tsonga's favor). This might be another long match but Tsonga never played this latest version of Goffin. If Goffin does play his best tennis, might be something special again.
For this RG though, to get his first QF would itself be great. Everything else including the fantasy of defeating Nadal on clay is pure cream we can indulge in once he gets there.
But really, the first four rounds are challenging, winnable, and most relevantly to his fans (who want him to be rid of his sluggishness for good) already the victories we really want from him without giving us shudders. Hope Goff delivers. Of course, I'm sure his fans will be his fans even if he somehow doesn't win these 4 rounds, but greatness is not achieved by our fanfare, it is achieved by a step-by-step increment of the requisite skills so that he achieves in the end a new level of fulfillment, transcending where he used to be "fulfilled" before, and then to do it all over again as many times as one enjoys making progress.
Good luck David for RG and Wimbledon! Hope to see a new consistent level.