The oldest remaining player in the tournament and the world number three, Roger Federer, has successfully booked his ticket for the quarter-finals at the Shanghai Masters after beating David Goffin in straight sets 7–6, 6–4.
The Swiss maestro started the match well, but Goffin did put some pressure on his service as early as the third game. Federer took a 5–4 lead and made the Belgian serve for staying in the first set. This is where Roger had his first set point, but Goffin denied him and made a break of his own in the next game.
Now serving for the set, Goffin had a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He managed to reach three individual set points, but made unforced errors on all of them, including one double fault.
The set entered a tiebreak where the Belgian had yet another couple of set points, both of which Roger denied. The two-time Shanghai champion then used a second set point of his own, leaving Goffin to think about his missed opportunities.
Goffin stuck to his plan of playing aggressively against the aging Swiss in the second set as well but simply couldn’t break through. It was Federer who first made a two-game difference by breaking him and holding his serve to take a 5–3 lead. The 38-year-old Federer didn’t have any issues ending the match from there.
David Goffin was looking to add more points to his total and get a better shot at qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in London, but the loss in the third round in Shanghai decreases his chances significantly. Roger Federer is now expecting a match against either Zverev or Rublev in the quarter-finals on Friday.
