Nadal has won both his meetings against Goffin, which came this season at Monte Carlo and Madrid
Monday 13 November 2017 20:02, UK
Rafael Nadal will open his ATP Finals campaign against David Goffin as the year-end world No 1 aims to claim a maiden title at the season-ending event.
The 16-time Grand Slam arrived at London's O2 with uncertainty surrounding his participation following his withdrawal from the Paris Masters through injury but has recovered in time to take his place in the eight-man field.
Goffin comes into the tournament as the seventh seed with two titles to his name - at Tokyo and Shenzhen - in a year which has seen him break into the top 10 for the first time in his career.
Nadal is making his first appearance at The O2 since his defeat to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at the 2015 edition.
Nadal has claimed six titles this season including two Grand Slam titles to help him to the year-end world No 1 ranking.
The Spaniard has lost only 10 matches all campaign but despite picking up 75 titles during his illustrious career he is without victory at the season-ending ATP Finals.
Goffin possesses a strong all-round game and started the season in fine fashion, reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals before an ankle injury at Roland Garros impeded his progress before a strong second half to the season helped the 26-year-old book his spot in London.
The diminutive Belgian, one of four debutants in London, can call upon his experience as an alternate last year at The 02 when he plays on Monday and might benefit from the faster court surface when the pair meet.
"First of all, it's faster on hard courts and the [bounce] is lower indoors," said Goffin about the challenge of facing the Spaniard. "Rafa, he cannot slide on this surface. He's more comfortable on clay and can play higher, he can play deeper; it's really heavy when he's hitting the ball on clay so it's not easy to take the ball really early.
"Here there is no bad bounce - you can take the ball early, earlier than on other surface. You can do a lot more winners, so that's what I'm going to try against him in my first match.
"But it's not easy, he's such a great fighter, such a great defender and as soon as you give him a short ball it's a winner for him. It's never easy to play against him."
Goffin has lost both the meetings between the pair but the Belgian can point to the fact they have both come on Nadal's favoured surface - outdoor clay.
Monday's meeting will be the third of the season and despite Goffin coming into the match without a set to his name against Nadal will be full of confidence after reaching a career-high world No 8 in the rankings earlier this month.
Sky Sports' Mark Petchey has backed Nadal to progress from the Pete Sampras group despite his injury concerns heading into London but believes Goffin is one of the players who will prove troublesome during the round robin format.
"If Rafa is fit enough to play then he and Dimitrov would be my picks to get out of that group - just because Goffin looks jaded," said Petchey.
"However, I hope that with the time Goffin has had off he is going to be re-energised for this event because I love watching him play. He is one of those intellectual players who thinks his way around the tennis court."
The season-ending extravaganza ATP Finals at London's O2 in November ends another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
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