American tennis player Donald Young has lost in the Shenzhen Open quarter-finals. No. 2 seed David Goffin was just too much for the American. Belgian Goffin dropped just five games on his way to reaching the semi-finals 6-2 6-3.
Goffin opened the match in style, breaking Young in the first game of the match. The No. 2 seed had a 4-2 lead when he broke the American for the second time to go 5-2 up. The Belgian then routinely served out for the first set.
Goffin was quick to break Young at the beginning of the second set as well. Young blew two game points in the third game as Goffin went on to take that game and a 2-1 lead.
However, the American fought back, breaking the Belgian in the following game.
Young managed to hold on to his serve until the seventh game. Once again, Young blew a game point, and Goffin punished him by taking a 4-3 lead. The No. 2 seed broke the American two games later to seal the win.
Goffin remains perfect against Young
Goffin hit six aces and won 77 percent of his first serve points against Young. The No. 2 seed also converted 5-of-10 of his break point chances during the match. The Belgian got the job done after just over an hour of action seen at the Shenzhen Open.
Goffin now has two wins and zero losses against Young. The two met for the first time in five years. Previously, Goffin defeated the American at the Miami Masters in 2012.
Goffin plays Laaksonen next
Goffin is now set to meet Swiss Henri Laaksonen in the Shenzhen Open semi-finals. The world No. 107 beat home-favorite Zhizhen Zhang to progress 6-4 3-6 6-2. It was the first-ever meeting between Laaksonen and Zhang.
Laaksonen was pressuring Zhang early on in the match. Yet, the players were tied at 4-4 after Zhang saved Laaksonen's break point chances in the first and fifth game.
Laaksonen finally broke Zhang in the ninth game before he served out for the first set, eventually.
Zhang saved Laaksonen's two consecutive break point chances to start the second set. Zhang then broke the Swiss for the first time in the match in the fifth game. The world No. 495 held on to his serve the rest of the way to force a decider.
Ranked 495th in the world, Zhang had his chance to collect yet another surprise win. Laaksonen broke Zhang in the third game of the third set and opened up a 4-1 lead that was insurmountable. It was a disappointing ending for home-favorite Zhang.
Goffin and Laaksonen have never played against each other before. No. 2 seed Goffin is the clear favorite to beat world No. 107 Laaksonen. It remains to be seen can Laaksonen pull off a major upset and reach the Shenzhen final.
