"For me, it is like a fifth Grand Slam" - Goffin reveals his favorite ATP Masters 1000 event and dream match

David Goffin has been competing at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments since 2012 when he made his debut at the Miami Open. Having reached five semifinals and one championship match, the Belgian is always considered a darkhorse at these events.

Prior to kicking off his Paris Masters campaign against Slovak Norbert Gombos, the World No.14 gave some insight into his favorite Masters 1000 memories and matches.

It is not an easy question because the Masters 1000 events are always super nice tournaments. If I had to pick one, I would have to say Monte Carlo. It is probably the nicest center court you can see on Tour with the sea. The sun is coming back in Europe and it is the beginning of the clay season, so it is quite nice after Miami to go back to Europe and start to compete there.

I would say Indian Wells because, for me, even if it is in the same category as the other ones, it looks a little bit bigger. With the stadium and the facilities, everything just looks a little bit better. It looks big. For me, it is like a fifth Grand Slam.

In Monte Carlo, the win against Novak Djokovic in 2017 was a great match and had a great atmosphere on a great center court. I was playing very well and I made a good result. I lost to Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. Everything was there, so it is one of the greatest memories I have there.

It is not easy to say, but I would say Novak in the Indian Wells final. It is the best challenge you can have. He won those tournaments so many times, Indian Wells and Miami. I played him in the semi-finals in Miami [in 2016]. It was a very good match. If it were in the final of Indian Wells, it would be even better to have that challenge. Or it would be Rafa in the final of Monte Carlo.

When I played Rafa in the Monte Carlo semi-finals it was just too good. I played Andy Murray when he was playing very well in Shanghai [in 2016]. I felt that it was very tough for me. I have never beaten Novak on hard courts at a Masters 1000. Those ones were the toughest I would say.

It is the best players in the world. From the first round until the end, you have a tough opponent… You have to be sharp from the start. It is very tough because you have a lot of matches, sometimes six or seven matches in a week. It can be very tough physically, especially when you go to end of the week and it could be Novak, Rafa and Roger from Friday to Sunday. It is very tough and the toughest part is you physically and mentally have to be sharp from the start.