by Andy Schooler, at The O2
ATP Finals runner-up David Goffin says he has become a better player mentally for his experience in London and has now set his sights on toppling the sport’s top names on a regular basis.
Goffin beat both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the world’s top two, during his run to the final, one ended by Grigor Dimitrov in a tight three-set final on Sunday.
He is the first man to beat both players at the same tournament without taking home the trophy but put that disappointment aside to say he has improved as a result of his eyecatching week.
"I think, after this week I'm a better player mentally," he assessed.
"I proved to myself that I can do it. I was at the right place because, you know, sometimes you are for the first time in the top eight, you don't know how it's going to go, if you're going to play a good level.
"I proved to myself that I'm in the right place, and I deserve to be here in this tournament.
"Match after match, I took more confidence until the final. So I'm proud of what I've achieved, even if I'm disappointed about the final."
At 26, Goffin is part of tennis’ so-called lost generation, a group of players who have been unable to break the status quo of the Big Four of Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, and one now coming under fire from a younger group below, led by Alex Zverev.
But after such an impressive week, the Belgian feels he can challenge again at the biggest tournaments.
"There is the generation of Federer, he's almost 10 years older than me, so we are not from the same generation. But he's still there. He's still playing such a nice tennis," added Goffin.
"You have Rafa, Djoko, Murray, all the same age. Then you have the next generation. As you saw last week in Milan, there are so many good (young) players coming. It's going to be tough in the future.
"But me and Grigor, we are almost the same age, and we are between the generation. We are here in the final of the ATP Masters.
"It's another generation. It's our generation. But we are here and we are fighting to beat the young guns and also the old ones.
"We are happy to play the final. We hope to play some more in the future."
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