David Goffin secures first title in three years at the Shenzhen Open

01/10/2017

David Goffin boosted his hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals with his first title in three years at the Shenzhen Open.

The Belgian had lost six finals since winning his second title in Metz in 2014 but ended that run with a 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Goffin lost the second-set tie-break after recovering from 1-5 but took the decider to win in two hours and three minutes.

The title leaves Goffin in 12th place in the Race to London, with the top eight qualifying for the season-ending tournament at the O2 Arena in November.

But Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic will both definitely miss out because of injury, with Andy Murray also unlikely to take part.

Should Goffin qualify for the ATP Finals, it would be a very impressive achievement given he was sidelined for six weeks with an ankle injury suffered at the French Open and missed Wimbledon.

The 26-year-old, who made his debut last year as an alternate after Gael Monfils pulled out, said:

" This one is really special because it's always tough to come back from injuries. To come back from injury to qualify my country for the Davis Cup final and then to win my third trophy, it means a lot. I cannot be happier today."

At the Chengdu Open, Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin won his second ATP Tour title when Marcos Baghdatis was forced to retire through injury.

The Cypriot was trailing 3-2 when he collapsed to the court with a back spasm and was unable to continue.