Interactive Forum October 2025: David Goffin: Backhand

[giancarlo]

David Goffin, 34, Belgium’s meticulous craftsman of the baseline, long ago proved that power isn’t the only path to elite tennis. At Wimbledon 2016, Hawk-Eye clocked his backhand at 73 mph—among the event’s fastest—evidence that “lightweight” doesn’t mean light ball.

His stroke is flatter than the ~1,775 rpm tour average, trading spin for speed and precision. A former world No. 7 and ATP Finals runner-up, Goffin thrives on timing, angles, and anticipation—his backhand down the line remains a model of quiet aggression.

His hitting-arm combination is mostly bent-straight (right arm bent / left arm straight), with the occasional straight-straight at contact. His meticulous footwork is key to maintaining an aggressive style and allows him to take the ball on the rise at every opportunity.

Still one of the tour’s most thoughtful competitors, Goffin wins not with force but with geometry, patience, and conviction.

In 2025, he upset Carlos Alcaraz in Miami’s second round. Last week in Shanghai, he defeated Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4, striking 19 winners to 11 errors for his second Top-10 win of the year.

Your thoughts please!

[tennisskip1515]

For what it's worth, I'll add that Goffin wins not only via geometry, patience, and conviction, but also because he's got great wheels. I think if we look at the other ATP players who win with a similar M.O. as Goffin – e.g., Mannarino, Tien, Moutet, Brooksby, all relatively soft ball players even if they have differently styled strokes – we can see that speediness around the court (and, anticipation) are contributing factors in their successes. Conversely, Bernard Tomic played a similar style, i.e., not a power-based game, but was let down in part due to not being very quick around the court. (To be fair, one cannot discount Tomic's lack of competitive drive in assessing his lack of results.)

I did see Goffin change shirts on a changeover once at the USOpen, and to say he's "lightweight" in the somatotypology department is a very safe statement. Thanks for this.

[jimlosaltos]

For what it's worth, I'll add that Goffin wins not only via geometry, patience, and conviction, but also because he's got great wheels. I think if we look at the other ATP players who win with a similar M.O. as Goffin – e.g., Mannarino, Tien, Moutet, Brooksby, all relatively soft ball players even if they have differently styled strokes – we can see that speediness around the court (and, anticipation) are contributing factors in their successes. Conversely, Bernard Tomic played a similar style, i.e., not a power-based game, but was let down in part due to not being very quick around the court. (To be fair, one cannot discount Tomic's lack of competitive drive in assessing his lack of results.)

I did see Goffin change shirts on a changeover once at the USOpen, and to say he's "lightweight" in the somatotypology department is a very safe statement. Thanks for this.

Had to look that one up. Should come in handy in a crossword puzzle some day. Thanks !

Somatotypology is the study of somatotypes, which is a theory for classifying the human body into three types: ectomorphic, mesomorphic, and endomorphic.

[stotty]

Had to look that one up. Should come in handy in a crossword puzzle some day. Thanks !

Somatotypology is the study of somatotypes, which is a theory for classifying the human body into three types: ectomorphic, mesomorphic, and endomorphic.

Goffin is thin, really thin. I saw him at Wimbledon some years back and I doubt he’s 10 stone…140lbs in your language. He timed the ball beautifully, though, and didn’t seem to suffer from lack of power from what I saw. He returned well on grass too.