David Goffin (ATP 10) was beaten by Dominic Thiem, third world player, on Saturday at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, in Biot, near Nice, for his fifth match of this hard surface exhibition tournament. The Austrian won 3-1 (15-10, 16-10, 13-10, 14-16).
Beaten in his first two games, to the sudden death by the French Richard Gasquet (ATP 50) and 3-1 against the Italian Matteo Berrettini (ATP 8), Goffin had then obtained two victories. Last week, he played Australian Alexei Popyrin (ATP 103) 4-0 and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez (ATP 56) with sudden death. Thiem signed him a second victory in three games. Goffin, currently eighth in the standings, will replay Sunday against German Dustin Brown (ATP 239). Exhibition tournament set up by Patrick Mouratoglou as the Covid-19 pandemic paralyzes the ATP circuit, the Ultimate Tennis Showdown takes place in an unprecedented format over five weeks in Biot, near Nice, with a final scheduled for Sunday, July 12 , the meetings spanning four ten-minute quarters. All participants compete during the regular phase. The six players who have won the most victories at the end of this first phase qualify for the eliminatory phase. The two best go directly to the semi-finals, while the other four must decide during the quarter-finals. Paralyzed since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ATP circuit will resume on August 14 in Washington.
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