Bizarre Swiss Indoors Basel twist: Marin Cilic and David Goffin face off for second time in the same tournament

The Swiss Open Indoors in Basel is preparing for its start this Monday, as one of the closing ATP 500 events of the season—back on the European indoor hardcourts. In the qualifiers, Marin Cilic overcame his match against David Goffin, guaranteeing his place in the main draw; however, they will meet again just two days after their last duel and in the same tournament.

The last-minute withdrawal of Holger Rune from the tournament—due to an Achilles tendon injury that has been widely discussed over the weekend—caused movements in the draw. The Dane will be out of action for a period of between six to nine months and had to pull out of Basel at the last minute.

The spot that Rune vacated was freed up, and it was determined that a lucky loser would replace him. It will be the former World No. 6 Goffin himself who will get his chance in the main draw anyway, with the curious twist of being drawn against the former US Open champion Cilic.

It will be a good opportunity for Goffin to seek revenge, although this time it will be as part of the tournament's main draw. Cilic and Goffin faced each other on Sunday in the second round of qualifying: the Croat had previously defeated the 7th seed Adam Walton, while the Belgian came from overcoming the 3rd seed Francisco Comesaña.

Undoubtedly, this is a peculiar situation that will mark the start of this Basel Open on Monday, although the match between Goffin and Cilic is scheduled for Tuesday.

A similar situation occurred less than a month ago at the China Open, and Goffin was also the protagonist. On that occasion, the Belgian defeated Arthur Rinderknech in the second round of qualifying and entered the tournament, being drawn against the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry. However, an injury forced the South American to withdraw before the match, and his place was taken by Rinderknech himself, who had the opportunity to seek revenge against Goffin.

The Frenchman, in fact, took advantage of his opportunity and got revenge for the loss two days earlier. He defeated Goffin in three sets and began a notable campaign that took him to the round of 16. Rinderknech managed to sustain his great moment in the following week, reaching the Shanghai Masters final in what is his best historical campaign in a tournament, allowing him to earn a place in the Top-30 for the first time in his career.

Rinderknech, in fact, will also be competing in the Swiss Indoors Open, where he was drawn against another Belgian: the 23-year-old Raphael Collignon.

This will be the 10th official duel between Goffin and Cilic—not counting matches played in qualifying. Two players who a decade ago were protagonists on the Tour and regular Top-10 players meet again with an important opportunity to secure wins in an ATP 500 level tournament—which can be a good boost in terms of points for the final part of the year.

Currently, the H2H is dominated by Goffin 5-4, including a victory in their last official encounter at the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters, with the win going to Goffin in three sets.