Abu Dhabi: David Goffin’s impeccable Mubadala World Championship debut continued on Friday night after he stunned the world number one Andy Murray 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 to reach the season-opening event’s final on Saturday.
The Belgian will be bidding to deny Rafael Nadal his record fourth Mubadala crown after the 14-time grand slam champion later overcame the man he beat in last year’s final, Milos Raonic, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
The impressive Goffin secured his second consecutive straight-sets victory at the ninth annual exhibition tournament at Zayed Sports City following his 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Thursday’s first match.
The world number 11 later played down the significance of his first win over Murray in five previous meetings in which he had not even won a set.
“It maybe doesn’t mean anything,” the 26-year-old said, referring to the fact that the MWTC is not a ranking event. “Maybe Murray would have managed differently if it had been a serious match. For me, I just tried from the beginning of the tournament to treat it like a real tournament.
“That’s why I’m really happy. If I didn’t take it seriously, it doesn’t mean anything to play this tournament. I’ve tried to be really serious and focused on what I had to do and it gives me a lot of confidence for the next season.”
Goffin said his excellent serving was “key” to his landmark success.
He admitted it had “been tough to keep serving so well” given that Murray is one of the world’s best returners.
Goffin was similarly pleased with his movement and net coverage and praised the International Tennis Stadium crowd for their excellent support for both players.
“The atmosphere was really nice tonight,” he said.
Saturday’s showdown against Nadal, who will be appearing in his fifth Mubadala final, will incidentally be the first time the pair have played.
Goffin revealed that they regularly practise together, though.
Murray, meanwhile, did not speak to media afterwards but his unlikely to be too worried by defeat in his final match of 2016.
The two-time MWTC champion ends the year ranked as the best player on the planet having won titles at Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics and the ATP World Tour Finals.
While Friday’s match will not count in the record books, it was Murray’s first defeat since his Davis Cup loss to Juan Martin Del Potro in September.
As such, his career-best 24-match winning streak remains intact.
Nadal, once the world No 1 and now ranked ninth after a succession of injuries, was thrilled with “a great victory against the third player of the world”.
It followed his 6-0, 6-4 dismantling of Tomas Berdych on Thursday.
Of the prospect of playing Goffin, he added: “We know each other very well. We’ve practised in almost every tournament together and have a good relationship.
“I know him and he knows me. It will be our first match against each other, so it will be interesting.”
Raonic was not too downbeat about his loss, insisting he could “take a lot of positives from the match” after recovering from a disastrous first set which he lost 6-1 in just 29 minutes.
“One thing I’ve learned is to be more proactive,” he said. “It was exciting to watch some of [Murray’s] match and tomorrow I will try and implement things better than I did before.”
The big-serving Canadian added that he feels “much better” after “losing weight to take pressure off my joints” after enduring back issues in recent seasons.
Elsewhere, Murray’s mother Judy conducted a parent and child coaching clinic in the Tennis Village.
This involved her teaching parents how to inculcate their children with the core-coordination skills that tennis requires.
Parents and their children jumped through hoops, twirled their rackets and caught water balloons as part of a skills session from the mother of two World No 1s, Andy and doubles maestro Jamie.
They both grew up playing football, cricket, tennis and badminton at home – mum Judy being their first tennis coach before they both went professional.
MUBADALA WORLD TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
Friday’ results
5th/6th-place play-off: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Tomas Berdych 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 10-3
Semi-finals
David Goffin bt Andy Murray 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
Rafael Nadal bt Milos Raonic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
Third-place play-off:
Andy Murray vs Milos Raonic, (1pm)
Final:
David Goffin vs Rafael Nadal (3pm)
