Goffin Loses the Last Match of His Career to Michelsen in Brussels
The former world No. 7 and first Belgian man in the top 10 then withdraws from the doubles with Raphaël Collignon
Alex Michelsen, the fifth seed and No. 37 in the world, broke David Goffin's serve in each set. Goffin broke back late in the second and closed to 5–4, but Michelsen served out the match. He plays top seed Arthur Fils in the quarterfinals.
Goffin had come back from 0–3 down in the third set to beat Remy Bertola in the first round.
The tournament staged an on-court ceremony for Goffin after the match, with video messages from fellow players.
Goffin and Raphaël Collignon were due to play Constantin Frantzen and Robert Galloway in the doubles quarterfinals that evening. They withdrew after Collignon hurt his back in his singles loss to Jiri Lehecka earlier in the day.
Goffin reached No. 7 in the world and won six tour titles. He beat Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz at least once each.
Alex Michelsen beat David Goffin 6–3, 6–4 at the European Open in Brussels, ending the 35-year-old Belgian's career in front of his home crowd.
Michelsen, the fifth seed and No. 37 in the world, broke in each set. Goffin broke back late in the second and closed to 5–4, but Michelsen served it out to reach the quarterfinals, where he faces top seed Arthur Fils. Fils reached the last eight on a walkover from Jaume Munar.
Goffin had come back from 0–3 down in the third set to beat Remy Bertola 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 in the first round.
After the match, the tournament staged an on-court ceremony with video messages from fellow players.
Goffin had also entered the doubles with Raphaël Collignon. They were due to play Constantin Frantzen and Robert Galloway in the quarterfinals that evening. The organizers announced that Goffin and Collignon had withdrawn. Collignon had hurt his back earlier in the day in a 6–4, 6–2 singles loss to Jiri Lehecka, the second seed. The match was never played, and the loss to Michelsen was the last match of Goffin's career.
"I was ready to play," Goffin told reporters in French. "But after the ceremony, it would have been more of an exhibition. And then Raphaël's back locked up. I understand that he is thinking about his future first. So it's better not to play, rather than to start the match and then retire."
Goffin was the first Belgian man to reach the top 10, climbing to No. 7, and won six tour titles. At the 2017 ATP Finals, he beat Rafael Nadal in the round-robin stage and Roger Federer in the semifinals before losing the final to Grigor Dimitrov. He beat Novak Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz at least once each.
"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 spoke about Goffin before the tournament.
"Everybody wants to play good tennis, but I think the most important thing is to be known as a good person," Collignon said. "David is a very good person, always the first one to give some advice to me, to try and be a mentor. And I think his game speaks for itself. He's an unbelievable player. It was a joy to grow up watching him."