Defending champion, the Belgian number 1, now 52nd in the world, won in three sets – 2-6, 7-5 and 6-1 – against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, 25, 68th in the ATP rankings. The match lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes.
Recipient of an invitation, David Goffin, 31, struggled to get into the game losing his serve (0-3) and almost losing his face-off a second time at 1-4. Returning to 2-4, Goffin will however let slip the first set (2-6).
Also broken in the second set (0-3), David Goffin will this time come back up to his opponent (4-4) and will succeed for the first time in the break to lead 6-5 and serve to win the second set. (7-5).
The Belgian number 1 found his feet over the minutes to take Bonzi’s serve a second time to lead 2-1 then 3-1. A second break in this decisive set allowed him to take off (6-1).
“If it can be like last year, where I played badly at the start before finally winning the tournament, that would be good,” joked Goffin just after his victory. “I’m going back to competition, I need rhythm and time on the court. But in the end, I’m happy to be out of it,” he added.
David Goffin will face in the second round either Frenchman Adrian Mannarino (ATP 58), 33, or Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ATP 47), 22.
David Goffin won his fifth and last ATP title last year in Montpellier. The Belgian number 1 was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open by Briton Daniel Evans a fortnight ago.