Melbourne - David Goffin said he felt ready to take on the
top players after he wore down Dominic Thiem to become the first Belgian man to
reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday.
The 11th-seeded Goffin equalled his best Grand Slam showing
by reaching the last eight with a 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-2 win over the
eighth-seeded Austrian in two hours 44 minutes.
Goffin's win in the second-set tiebreaker proved crucial as he
powered on to victory on Rod Laver Arena, where ambient temperatures were above
35 Celsius.
"I kept fighting, that was definitely key winning the
second-set tiebreaker where I made some good returns," Goffin said.
"I continued to push on in the rallies and I'm really
happy to win. Mentally, I'm tired."
Goffin knocked Thiem out in the third round of last year's
Australian Open, before losing to the Austrian in the quarters at the French
Open.
Goffin won on his second match point when Thiem netted a
service return. It was the Belgian's first victory over a top-10 player at a
major.
"I'm feeling more confident against the top players. I
had a lot of matches before the tournament," Goffin said.
"I knew that I was able to fight and to win some
matches against big guys. I knew that I had the level.
"The key was to play my best tennis in the match and
not only during practice. But I'm doing more often than in the past.
"That's why I'm more confident and I win some more
matches."
The Belgian, who reached the last eight at Roland Garros last year, will next face either Bulgarian 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov or Uzbek wildcard Denis Istomin in the quarters.