David Goffin double-faulted to lose his serve in the fifth game of the second set on Thursday, in the last match of his career. Fifth seed Alex Michelsen closed out a 6-3, 6-4 win in the second round of the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open in Brussels, and the Belgian, playing his final tournament on a wild card, left Centre Court at Brussels Expo for the last time as a player.
Michelsen broke in the sixth game of the first set and took it 6-3. Goffin’s best spell came on his own serve in the second, when he hit four aces in a single service game. The tournament held an on-court ceremony afterwards. Goffin was presented with a trophy and shown video messages from his family and from Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet and Grigor Dimitrov, among others.
“I want to thank everyone for the incredible support I’ve received throughout my career,” Goffin said. “First and foremost, my family, who have always stood by me, and especially my wife and daughter for all the sacrifices they have made. I also want to thank my team and all my opponents, who have constantly pushed me to my limits. And of course, the fans, for their unwavering support throughout my career and especially this week. It has been a wonderful week, one that will forever hold a special place in my heart.”
One more day. Goffin had extended the farewell a day earlier, coming from a set down to beat Swiss lucky loser Remy Bertola 6-3, 6-4 in the last two sets. It was his first match of the week in singles and, as it turned out, his last tour-level win. “I don’t really know what to say,” he said. “It was both the hardest and the most beautiful moment at the same time. I struggled with nerves at the beginning, but the support from the crowd was incredible!”
He was also entered in doubles with Raphael Collignon. The Belgian pair beat third seeds Marc Polmans and Jan Zielinski 6-4, 7-5 in their opening match, but gave a walkover in the quarterfinals to Constantin Frantzen and Robert Galloway, which left the Michelsen match as the last of Goffin’s career.
The career. Goffin, 35, reached No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings and won six tour-level titles, the first of them at Kitzbuhel in 2014. He was the first Belgian man to break into the Top 10, to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to beat a world No. 1 and to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final, according to the ATP Tour. He finished seven straight seasons, 2014 to 2020, inside the year-end Top 25.
His week of weeks came at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals in London. He beat Nadal in the round robin and Roger Federer in the semifinals before losing the final to Dimitrov. Federer won 10 of their 11 meetings; that semifinal at The O2 was the exception. Goffin finished with at least one win over each of Novak Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz.
“I’m proud of all my career. I gave everything to try to reach my goals,” Goffin said before the tournament. “I’m proud of the attitude that I always had in front of the difficulties that I had in my career. I’m proud of the wins I had, the opponents I beat. A lot of things I’m really proud of. But in the end, I have no regrets and I gave everything until the very end.”
Collignon, his doubles partner for the week, put it in Belgian terms. “I think David is a great champion and to have him in our country is like an inspiration for young kids, to believe in their dreams because he did crazy things,” he said. “He was Top 10 in the world. He beat all of the Big Three; Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. He’s the biggest inspiration for all of us.”
What’s next in Brussels. Michelsen plays top seed Arthur Fils in the quarterfinals. Fils has not played a singles match this week: he had a first-round bye and then a walkover from Jaume Munar, who withdrew with a back problem. Zizou Bergs, now the last Belgian in the singles draw, beat Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-4 in 78 minutes and meets Jan-Lennard Struff. Second seed Jiri Lehecka, last year’s runner-up, beat Collignon 6-4, 6-2 and plays Tallon Griekspoor. The European Open guide has the draw format and past champions.
Retirement on the tour is a formal status, not just a goodbye. What it takes to come back from it is set out in our explainer.
