Roger Federer through to 32nd consecutive quarter at Roland Garros

Roger Federer is through to the quarter-finals of the French Open after rallying to beat lucky loser David Goffin 5-7 7-5 6-2 6-4.


Goffin, in the main draw after the injured Gael Monfils pulled out, threatened an upset with a fine performance in the first set.


But Federer's class told as he took the next three sets to progress to his 36th Grand Slam quarter-final.
The world number three will next play Juan Martin del Potro or Tomas Berdych.


Goffin was playing in his first-ever Grand Slam against an opponent he idolised while growing up, but his performance belied his lack of experience.


"I came out of the qualifiers and I played my best tennis in my first three matches. Then playing Roger was the cherry on the cake," said the 21-year-old.


"I won't hide the fact that I had photos of Roger everywhere on the walls of my bedroom. It was like a dream for me playing him here."


Goffin certainly made former world number one Federer work hard for his place in the last eight, and at times played some sublime shots.


The opening set went with serve for the first 11 games as world number 109 Goffin showed he was not overawed by the occasion.



The Belgian then stunned Federer with a superb forehand down the line to break serve and claim the first set.


Goffin was clearly brimming with confidence and once again the contest was evenly matched before Federer broke serve to make it 6-5 before winning the next game to level matters at one set all.


From then on Federer was in control as Goffin's early exuberance began to make way for fatigue and the Swiss star closed out the match to progress to a 32nd consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final.


Afterwards, Federer backed Goffin for a bright future in the game.


"I thought he played really well," he said. "He took the ball early every time. He's got great potential in terms of his touch and the way he reads the game.


"I think he can go very far. He's very talented. And I hope he can make it to the top 20. That would be great."

BBCSport