David Goffin (ATP Tour - Twitter)
The Belgian No. 1, David Goffin, begins his Metz 2022 campaign against veteran Gilles Simon on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old made it to the quarterfinal in Sydney and won the title in the Grand Prix Hassan II. At the French Open, Goffin made it to the third round. At Wimbledon, he played quite well to reach the quarterfinals for the second time in his career.
Apart from these results, there’s not much to write home about. The former world No. 7 has not been in good form for major parts this season. Since the Wimbledon campaign, he has lost in the first rounds in four consecutive tournaments – the Citi Open, the Canadian Open, the Cincinnati Masters (after progressing from the qualifiers), and the Winston-Salem Open. He will be hoping to turn things around in Metz.
The 37-year-old failed to progress beyond the first round last year at Metz. He was defeated by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Simon has a decent chance to progress to the second round this time as his opponent is coming into the tournament on the back of some undesirable form.
He has predominantly played in Challenger events in 2022. Simon made it to the third round at the French Open and the round of 16 at the Libema Open. In the Vancouver Open last month, Simon made it to the quarterfinals before being ousted by Vasek Pospisil in straight sets. The French tennis pro will take confidence from the fact that he has defeated Goffin before.
David Goffin has a narrow 3-2 lead in the head-to-head scoreline. The Belgian tennis pro had the last laugh at the Open 13 in 2019 when he defeated Simon in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
Prediction: David Goffin to win in three sets.
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