David Goffin dedicates Shanghai revival to newborn daughter, Emma

David Goffin might be rolling back the years at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, but the former world No. 7 has fresh motivation for finding some of his vintage best: his newborn daughter, Emma.

The 33-year-old Belgian scored his first Top 10 victory since 2022 on Wednesday by defeating world No. 2 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 16 to match his deepest-ever run in Shanghai and first Masters 1000 quarterfinal berth in three years. Goffin, who was ranked as low as No. 134 in February, entered Shanghai at No. 66 despite having not played since reaching the third round of the US Open, as he and his wife, Stephanie Tuccitto, welcomed Emma on Sept. 17.

After clinching victory against Zverev, Goffin broke the fourth wall to send a message to his little girl, signing the camera with the letter 'E' inside of a heart.

"I wanted to show my daughter that I can be a good tennis player, so I will try to find a few more years just to show her that I can still play tennis," Goffin said afterwards. "That’s the case for the moment. Even if she doesn’t realize yet, hopefully she will come and watch a little bit."

Read more: Stefanos Tsitsipas challenges umpire Fergus Murphy in latest Shanghai spat

Snake-bitten by injuries beginning in 2021, the 2017 ATP Finals champion ended 2023 outside the world's Top 100 for the first time in a decade. But a grass-court ATP Challenger event ahead of Wimbledon in Ilkley returned him to that ranking bracket in short order. All the while, Goffin, whose last statement win was a stunned over then-world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the closing weeks of 2022, said he still had faith he could find his best level.

"I was not thinking retiring, but sometimes you have doubts about your fitness ... if you're not 100% mentally, it's tough to compete with those guys," he said. "I put a lot of hard work in the last few months. There is no secret. The tennis came back."

Prior to beating Zverev, Goffin came from a set down to defeat both Marcos Giron and No. 15 seed Lorenzo Musetti, having lost the opening set of those matches 6-1. Against this year's Roland Garros finalist, Goffin was in a different place. He led for much of the opening set, and won four of its last five games.

He later staved off a decider by some steely play late in the second. From 4-2 up, he lost the next three games, and denied Zverev a set point serving at 4-5, before capturing the final three games of the match.

"I built the confidence from the beginning of the tournament," Goffin said. "Match after match, I've been playing better and better. I just came on the court and just tried to play my best tennis, stick to the plan that we had with my coach, and it worked.

"Even though he came back with some good rallies, I just tried to stay positive because I was on the right way to winning the match. It paid off in the end with a really good service game to finish, so I am really happy with the win.”

Goffin will seek another Top 10 upset in the next round as he bids for his first Masters 1000 semifinal since 2019. He'll face No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz on Thursday.