ABU DHABI // David Goffin gave himself a huge boost ahead of his 2017 campaign with a stunning 7-6, 6-4 win over world No 1 Andy Murray in front of a captivated full house at the International Tennis Centre at the Zayed Sports City.
In five previous matches against Murray, Goffin had failed to even take a set off the Scotsman. He had not even managed to force a tiebreaker, but on Friday he broke that streak.
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Floating around the court with ease, counter-punching and returning superbly, the Belgian took the first set in a tie-break.
In the second set, Goffin was trailing 2-4 after dropping his serve in the fifth game, but doggedly fought back to level the score at 4-4. Goffin broke Murray a second time to book his place in the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship against either Rafael Nadal or Milos Raonic.
While this match will not count in the official stats, it was Murray’s first defeat since his Davis Cup loss to Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro in September. Officially, Murray’s career-best 24-match winning streak continues.
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