Roland Garros: David Goffin vs Jannik Sinner preview, head-to-head & prediction | French Open 2020

David Goffin
David Goffin

Match details

Fixture: David Goffin vs Jannik Sinner

Date: 27 September 2020

Tournament: Roland Garros 2020

Round: First Round (Round of 128)

Venue: Paris, France

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: Approx €38,000,000

Match timing: 11 am CEST, 2.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - NBC Sport / Tennis Channel | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP

Also check out: The Complete French Open 2020 Schedule


David Goffin vs Jannik Sinner preview

David Goffin returns a ball
David Goffin returns a ball

David Goffin will be looking to kick off his week in Paris on a strong note, but might face some resistance from fast-rising Jannik Sinner in his first round match.

The Belgian struggled with the restart of the tour at the Cincinnati Masters, where he was upset by Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff. That was followed by another disappointing loss at the US Open, where Goffin lost to Canada's Denis Shapovalov.

The World No. 12 would have a lot to rue from his campaign at Flushing Meadows, since he had a great chance to make the semifinals from the first quarter after World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament. Goffin had also led his younger opponent by a set, before suffering a collapse to lose in four sets.

Goffin was then dealt another setback to his season in Rome, where the 29-year-old lost to former World No. 3 Marin Cilic while winning only four games in the whole match.

The Belgian's opponent on Sunday, Jannik Sinner, has had an up-and-down resumption to his season himself. He exited early to Italy's Salvatore Caruso at the Cincinnati Masters before losing from two-sets-to-love up against Russia's Karen Khachanov a week later at the US Open.

The 19-year-old then scored some impressive wins - over World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas and France's Benoit Paire - at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, before being stopped by Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 16.

David Goffin vs Jannik Sinner head-to-head

Jannik Sinner beat David Goffin in Rotterdam earlier this year
Jannik Sinner beat David Goffin in Rotterdam earlier this year

Jannik Sinner leads David Goffin 1-0 in the head-to-head matchups. Their solitary encounter took place at the Rotterdam Open this year, where the 18-year-old beat his more experienced opponent in straight sets.

David Goffin vs Jannik Sinner prediction

Jannik Sinner has had durability issues in long matches
Jannik Sinner has had durability issues in long matches

David Goffin is an aggressive baseliner, and likes taking the ball on the rise. He has accurate groundstrokes on both wings - in particular a terrific down-the-line backhand - and he uses them to good effect to move his opponents around.

Goffin took a set off 12-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal here last year, where he showcased all of these attributes to the fullest.

NextGen star Jannik Sinner has a similarly aggressive game, but uses less topspin than Goffin. The 19-year-old possesses easy power on his backhand, and can create some impeccable angles from the baseline.

The Italian has an all-round game, but has struggled with physical conditioning in long matches. Goffin would likely have the upper hand over his young opponent in best-of-five, a format in which Sinner has not proven himself yet.

Prediction: David Goffin to win in five sets.


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