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Diminutive Goffin Takes Out Giant Cilic at BNP Paribas Open

The higher-seeded Belgian credits his superior concentration in a battle of mismatched stature at Indian Wells Tennis Garden

Bill Dwyre Tennis

davidgoffin

David Goffin, Belgium’s top men’s tennis player, was talking Thursday afternoon about the possibilities of his semifinal opponent Saturday in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. It would be either Milos Raonic, 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, or Gael Monfils, 6-4 and 170.

“It will either be a tall one or a small one,” he said, slightly understating Monfils’ height, but not the power of his game. Raonic is one of the best and biggest servers in the game, Monfils one of the flashiest and most creative shot-makers.

Goffin had just survived as the small one. He is 5-11, 150 pounds, and had beaten the tall one, Marin Cilic of Croatia, 6-6 and 200. It was the quarterfinals in the big stadium, and Jack had torn down the beanstalk.

“In tennis, you can find solutions,” Goffin said.

He meant solutions for dealing with bigger players, as well as higher-ranked players. His 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open Champion, followed his three-set victory over No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka, a two-time major champion, in the previous round.

Goffin talked about being able to take the ball earlier if you are smaller. But mostly, he said he concentrated better and played the important points better than Cilic. There is no size advantage to those things.

Goffin is seeded 15th ,  and Cilic was 10th. Goffin has now beaten the big-serving Croat both times they have played. His previous win was two weeks ago in a Davis Cup first-rounder, a match Croatia eventually won, 3-2, with Goffin getting both of Belgium’s points.

Cilic took a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker and managed only one more point after that, a service winner. Before the tiebreaker, he had failed on four set points. The rest was a parade of unforced errors, as was his second-set, 6-2 loss.

Neither Goffin nor Cilic had ever progressed to a Masters Series semifinal. Goffin’s best result in a Grand Slam tournament is the fourth round, including this year’s Australian Open, where he lost to Roger Federer.

Friday’s top-half quarterfinals draw in men’s singles will feature more star power. No. 1 Novak Djokovic will play No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and No. 4 Rafael Nadal will play No. 5 Kei Nishikori.

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