WHAT HAPPENED: No. 7 seed David Goffin and No. 26 seed Filip Krajinovic took to the court under a sultry mid-day sun, with the humidity climbing and temperatures in the mid-80s—US Open weather, in other words.
But Goffin kept his cool, grabbing the victory in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4.
For this Round 3 contest, Goffin could not have been anticipating a walk down easy street. On paper, he outranks his opponent. But in head-to-head matches, Krajinovic, from Serbia, leads Goffin 2-1, with two of those wins in straight sets on hard courts. Plus, the 28-year-old from Belgrade cruised into Round 3, beating his prior opponents in straight sets, while Goffin fought four-set battles against Reilly Opelka and Lloyd Harris.
Still, Krajinovic started slow—and the 29-year-old Goffin seized control, going up 4-0 before the match was 15 minutes old. The Serb’s struggle, in a word: serving. While never known for hammering aces, Krajinovic dropped serve four times in a row and managed to hit only three winners in the first serve, to Goffin’s 11. The set went to the baseliner from Belgium, 6-1.
The second set brought the momentum shift Krajinovic needed. Breaking Goffin’s serve, the Serb went up 2-0. But the break-fest continued—most critically for the No. 7 seed, who failed to convert on a set point at 5-4. While Krajinovic threw down three aces in the tiebreak, he also muffed a couple of volleys, allowing Goffin to close out the second set, 7-6.
In the third set, Goffin looked as if he had the match well in hand until he stepped up to serve at 4-2—when he fell apart. With the match on serve, it was the Serb’s turn to stay steady. He failed to do so and Goffin broke the Serb, yet again, to take the set, 6-4.
WHAT IT MEANS: With the win today, Goffin moves on to Round 4—just as he did last year, but with one notable difference. In 2019, he faced Roger Federer in Round 4 play, a contest he lost 2-6, 2-6, 0-6. This year, he’ll walk on court against either Denis Shapovalov or Taylor Fritz, depending on the outcome of their Round 3 match later in the day on Friday.
MATCH POINT: Goffin is the sole male player representing Belgium at the 2020 US Open—and, indeed, was the only Belgian to break into the ATP Top 10. Meanwhile, the tiny country has fielded some fine female players, notably long-time World No. 1 Justine Henin, as well as “comeback” Kim Clijsters, who’s been known to show up to watch Goffin.
