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David Goffin's Quest For Confidence | ATP Tour | Tennis 24/03/2019

The past 13 months have not been easy for David Goffin. After reaching the championship match at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, he missed four weeks early in 2018 due to a freak accident in the Rotterdam semi-finals that resulted in an eye injury. After making the semi-finals at Cincinnati in August, any momentum he gained came to a halt when he missed the final five weeks of the season due to an elbow injury.

But the Belgian takes solace in knowing that all it takes is one moment to turn it all around.

“It’s just been a tough period and I just need some confidence. I have it in practice, so that’s why I’m really positive,” Goffin told ATPTour.com. “Sometimes it could be a good match, a good battle, a good win or a good result in a tournament just to give me some confidence and just to see that I can do it and I’m still there and I have the level. It’s much better already this week.”

From 2014-17, Goffin built up confidence as he steadily improved his game. Each year, he broke a new milestone in the year-end ATP Rankings; first it was the Top 25, then the Top 20, the Top 15, and finally the Top 10 after his performance at the season finale in London two seasons ago.

“All of a sudden you start to have a lot of injuries, an accident, a fracture to my elbow and then changing my coach. It was like you have to rebuild a new base for the future and make a completely refined project because there’s something different, you want to change,” Goffin said. “I’m 28 now, so maybe it’s time to do something else for the next four or five years to still improve and I think it could be the best years in front of me in my career. It’s different, but it could take some time and I know that, so I’m patient and I hope it’s going to pay off.”

Goffin has recently reunited with 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, who is his lone coach. The Swede spent time with Goffin in 2016, so there is plenty of familiarity between the two. They officially began their partnership after Marseille in February.

“I’m really happy to be back and now it’s the third week we’re working together on the [ATP] Tour,” Johansson said. “The good thing about that is we don’t need the ‘get to know each other’ time, because we know each other really well and we had a lot of contact even when we weren’t working together.”

Johansson acknowledges that Goffin, currently World No. 20, will have to dig deep to return to the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings, having peaked at No. 7 in 2017. According to him, it may be even tougher now.

“I think it’s more challenging, because the depth in tennis now is amazing. Now is the first time ever that the youngsters are coming up and they’re actually challenging the big guns,” Johansson said. “So for me it’s extremely tough for a player like David to come back to the Top 10. But that’s our big goal, to try to achieve that.”

Listen To ATP Radio's Interview With Johansson:

Goffin and Johansson are not making any major changes, as the Belgian’s game isn’t far off. He simply is fine-tuning various aspects of his game and hoping that piecing all of that together can make for a big pay-off.

“Just small details that I can do to be a little more aggressive, how I can be at the net, improve the serve and maybe the zone, the target where I hit the serve to be ready for the next shot on my groundstrokes,” Goffin said. “So it can be small details, but it could make a difference to be more aggressive.”

Goffin, who was 4-6 at tour-level entering this ATP Masters 1000 event, is into the third round of the Miami Open presented by Itau, where he will face 14th seed Marco Cecchinato. But he’s not dreaming of any specific goals. He’s simply working hard daily to try to regain his form.

“For the moment it’s just to come back at my best level and to be competitive match after match. I think it’s not perfect yet, but I’m improving. The good thing is I’m playing really well during practice,” Goffin said. “It could be one match, it could be a set. Sometimes you like to open the bottle and then you can be fine, so I’m still working hard. We are working together during practice and I know it’s going to come. Sometimes I play well, but I have to play well during the whole match. It’s better and better day after day.”

After speaking to ATPTour.com shortly after his second-round victory against Pablo Andujar, Goffin, racquets in hand, headed back towards the practice courts with Johansson.

“I’m just trying now to enjoy it. I enjoy every moment during practice. I just want to feel the same during every match to come back to play very relaxed, to hit every shot — and not tight — and to be creative; to create every point, to be aggressive, just play, because that’s what I love. I’m sure if I’m with this attitude, a good attitude, I think I can come back at my best and the results will come.”

David Goffin's Quest For Confidence | ATP Tour | Tennis David Goffin struggled through 2018 due to injuries. But the Belgian is working hard to regain the form that saw him reach the championship match of the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals.

How Denis Shapovalov Is Trying To Channel His Inner Roger Federer | ATP Tour | Tennis 24/03/2019

Canadian Denis Shapovalov has already made two ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals, beaten Rafael Nadal, and he is now on the verge of the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings. But the 19-year-old knows he’s not perfect, and that’s what could propel him to the next level.

“There are a lot of things that I can improve and work on,” Shapovalov said.

The teen certainly wears his heart on his sleeve. In Miami last year, Shapovalov defeated home favourite Sam Querrey 7-5 in a third set and pointed at his left forearm, yelling “I’ve got ice in my veins!” You’ll never leave a Shapovalov match feeling that he lacked energy, from his high-flying one-handed backhands to celebratory roars after big points.

The teenager’s coach since the back-end of last season, Rob Steckley, has been working alongside Shapovalov’s Mom, Tessa Shapovalova, on harnessing his charge's emotions during matches. While many times his fire is a great thing, sometimes it isn’t.

In the second round of last year’s Shenzhen Open, Shapovalov held two match points against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. On one of those opportunities, the lefty dumped a volley into the net. According to Steckley, Shapovalov, ‘let his head spin out of control’ and ultimately lost the match. Nishioka went on to win the tournament.

“I remember regrouping after the match and he was pretty disappointed with losing that, heartbroken. That one stung,” Steckley said. “I remember telling him that there’s two ways of going about this: You can either let this affect you or we can learn from this very quickly, because I’ll bet my life you’re going to be in the same exact position. You’re going to have a match point, whether it’s a serve, a volley or a forehand, but you’re going to have the exact same scenario next week and the week after, so it’s how we bounce back and learn from this.”

When Roger Federer was a rising junior, he showed plenty of fire and desire to win. Eventually, he internalised that with experience and now, the Swiss is a 100-time tour-level champion. Like Federer, Shapovalov is not the first person to try harnessing his emotions on court.

“That of course could be a big step for me. I’m still trying to mature and have a better attitude on court,” Shapovalov said. “I really look up to Roger in that case. He was pretty emotional himself on the court and he found a way to change himself and become the great ambassador and the role model he is today, so I’m hoping to follow his path.”

Shapovalov has shown that he is talented enough to hang with anyone on the ATP Tour. At the Australian Open, he was one of just two players to take a set from World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Shapovalov’s abilities are no secret, either.

At this week’s Miami Open presented by Itau, he is competing in doubles on top of singles, partnering Indian Rohan Bopanna. The former World No. 3 doubles player, who also teamed with the Canadian in Indian Wells, has been impressed.

“I think he’s a very, very fearless player. He goes out there, irrespective of who he’s playing against. He plays an attacking game, which makes him dangerous,” Bopanna said. “That single-handed backhand that he hits, he takes it on the rise, he’s very aggressive, and he’s got a great serve. He’s not afraid to come to the net and finish those volleys. If he wants, he can just hang in there from the back, so he’s got a lot of variety in his game, which makes him a complete player. I think he’s going to be at the top for a long time.”

Hanging in rallies is another part of Shapovalov’s game that Steckley is honing in on. The Canadian is a proven shotmaker off both baseline wings, but it’s about choosing when to be most aggressive.

“[It’s about] learning to stay in the rallies and that it’s okay to stay in the rallies and that he can hang in with the best of them, and learning when to pull the trigger and when to play his ‘A’ game and when it’s okay to play ‘B’ game,” Steckley said. “I think that transition mentally will allow him a lot more success in the near future. It’s coming."

While it was not match point, Shapovalov was in a situation that could have unraveled many teenagers on Friday. Early in the third set against Daniel Evans — who had won both of his previous professional matches against the Canadian — Shapovalov failed to convert three break points, missing routine forehands on two of them. But instead of battling his mind, he remained calm and broke in the same game, eventually charging into the third round.

“I knew going into the match that I’ve been seeing the ball in his service games a lot and in the second set I think I broke him twice,” Shapovalov said. “So I was fairly confident even if I was missing a couple forehands that I should just keep going. I think that gave me confidence.”

It wasn’t about reinventing the wheel or changing the gameplan. It was just understanding that he won 38 per cent of return points in the match, and if he refocused, another opportunity would come.

“I always remind myself to just think about the next point, forget about the rest and just keep going forward,” Shapovalov said.

There’s little doubt that Shapovalov will continue his ascent up the ATP Rankings. But it’s easy to forget that he is still just 19. So while the world is watching Shapovalov grow, it’s more of a matter of if, not when, he makes more big breakthroughs.

“Being 19, everybody wants things as fast as the next person. I think it’s just understanding the process of trying to get him to really buy into understanding that it’s okay to buy some time and not want things too fast,” Steckley said. “When you want things too fast, the expectations become even bigger and then you start to get lost and you play with a little bit of fear and hesitation. So I think it’s just understanding that it’s okay to go at 60 kilometres an hour rather than 160. They both get there.”

How Denis Shapovalov Is Trying To Channel His Inner Roger Federer | ATP Tour | Tennis Denis Shapovalov speaks about what he needs to improve in his game to continue his ascent up the ATP Rankings, including one thing he hopes to follow in Roger Federer's footsteps with.

Albot Federer 2019 Miami Saturday | ATP Tour | Tennis 23/03/2019

One year ago, Roger Federer suffered a stunning opening-round defeat at the Miami Open presented by Itau. On Saturday, the three-time champion made sure that history wouldn't repeat itself.

Being aggressive and coming forward often, Radu Albot produced an impressive display to push Federer to the brink of defeat in his Miami opener. But, as day turned to night in South Florida, Federer would navigate to the finish line, prevailing 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 10 minutes.

In one of the biggest upsets of the 2018 season, Thanasi Kokkinakis sent shockwaves throughout the ATP Tour with a deciding tie-break victory over Federer. Unfazed and showing great poise, Albot sought to replicate the feat behind a strong start. Using his great agility and steady baseline game, he put immense pressure on Federer in the early stages. As he's done throughout his career, the 37-year-old found a solution with his back against the wall.

The World No. 5 Federer stopped Albot from achieving his first win over a Top 10 opponent (0-5) and secured his first comeback from a set down in Miami since 2012 (d. Roddick). He will next face Serbia's Filip Krajinovic on Monday.

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Federer, who made his tournament debut 20 years ago, is making his 18th tournament appearance. He is a three-time champion, lifting trophies in 2005-06 and 2017. Two years ago, he downed Rafael Nadal for the championship.

Six days after falling in the BNP Paribas Open final to Dominic Thiem, Federer continues his quest for a 28th ATP Masters 1000 crown. He has enjoyed great success at the 'March Masters' events and carries a 51-14 record into the Miami third round.

More to come...

Albot Federer 2019 Miami Saturday | ATP Tour | Tennis One year ago, Roger Federer suffered a stunning opening-round defeat at the Miami Open presented by Itau. On Saturday, the three-time champion made sure that history wouldn't repeat itself.

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