Open Sud de France 2020: Vasek Pospisil vs David Goffin, match preview and prediction
Vasek Pospisil's comeback campaign has received a big boost with a win over fellow countryman and NextGen star Denis Shapovalov in the second round of the 2020 Open Sud de France.
An injury-ridden season saw him drop to a lowly ranking, but Pospisil is now well on his way back towards the top 100, where he really belongs. But he will have to maintain his top form to secure a win against his semifinal opponent, David Goffin.
This will be the second meeting between the two men and Pospisil will be looking to get even with a win here. The last time these two met was in 2013 with Goffin winning in a tight three-set match, but things have changed dramatically since.
Goffin, for one, has gone on to do greater things in his career, whole Pospisil spiralled downward following a series of injuries. The Belgian has been especially impressive in the last couple of years winning big titles on all surfaces.
His all-court game has made a threat on the tour and a regular feature of the top 10 for the better part of the period. The year could not have started off any better for him, with wins over Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov.
Goffin has come out of his shell and his newfound aggressive approach has yielded good results for him as evident by wins over stronger and more powerful opponents including Nadal and Dimitrov.
He will face an opponent who loves to serve big and come into the net at every chance he gets. It will then be onto Goffin to find a way to control the exchanges from the back, but it will not be easy.
Pospisil looks to be in good touch and is more determined than ever to get back to the big league. Goffin is definitely capable of stopping the charge, but he will have to get into his stride from the get-go.
Otherwise, early momentum on serve will only help Pospisil's confidence and he might as well run away with this one.
Prediction: Pospisil to win in three sets.