David Goffin Calls An End To His 2018 Year, Fognini And Tsitsipas Still In Nitto ATP Finals London Race

David Goffin of Belgium hits a return to Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany during the sixth day of the US Open Tennis Championships the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 01 September 2018. The US Open runs from 27 August through 09 September.  EPA-EFE/JOHN G. MABANGLO

 

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

David Goffin, who had already pulled out from the ongoing Japan Open and also from next week’s Shanghai Masters, has announced that his 2018 season is over because of an elbow injury.

 

“As you already know I had to withdraw from Tokyo and Shanghai due to a right elbow injury,” Goffin posted on his social media channels. “This pain appeared a few months ago and it has worsened recently. I have now more informations about this injury which is a bone edema. I need at least one month to recover so I am sad to announce that I have to put an end to my season…

 

“I am very disappointed not to be able to compete in the next few tournaments. I apologize to all the tournament directors and to all my fans. I will keep you all updated on my progress. I need to get some rest and treat myself properly in the hope of starting my preparation for (the) next season as soon as possible.”

 

Despite being plagued by various injuries throughout the season, the 11th-ranked Belgian was still in the Nitto ATP Finals discussion at No. 12 in the race to London. He advanced to the fourth round at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, reached the Washington, D.C. quarterfinals, and made a run to the Cincinnati Masters semis.

 

Goffin’s absence means three of the four semifinalists from the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals will likely miss the London festivities this time. Grigor Dimitrov–who won the tournament last fall–is 17th in the race, while Jack Sock has been hopeless in singles this season and registers at a downright shocking 165th. Roger Federer, who lost to Goffin in the semis, has already clinched a return trip to the O2 Arena.

 

With Goffin out, the number of contenders currently outside the cut line who can still break into the top eight has dwindled. Among those still alive, however, are Fabio Fognini and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Fognini (11th in the race) is coming off a runner-up performance in Chengdu and he beat Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Beijing quarterfinals on Thursday. Tsitsipas (13th in the race) booked a spot in the Tokyo semifinals by battling past Alex de Minaur in three sets.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @TennGrand.