World Number 6 Alexander Zverev crashed out of the Monte-Carlo Masters after losing to veteran Belgian tennis star David Goffin on Thursday.

The two players traded flamboyance for caution at the start, having an equal share of the exchanges. However, that was before Goffin, who is currently ranked 15th in singles, got himself a decisive break of serve to pull ahead in the opening set.

David Goffin signaled his intent by winning the opening set in the pre-quarters against Alexander Zverev

The 30-year-old Belgian held on to his advantage to take the first set 6-4.

Stung by the opening set reverse, the German came out throwing punches in the second and tried putting the squeeze on Goffin’s serve.

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However, the Belgian managed to come away with service holds, resulting in the second set being deadlocked at 5-5 at the end of the 10th game.

Serving well, the German extended his lead in the set to 6-5. However, the Belgian played out another hold to take the set to a tie-break.

Seeking to put the match to bed, Goffin came out all guns blazing in the tie-breaker and before long, opened out a clear 6-2 lead.

Staring down at defeat, the German reeled off four successive points to level the score at 6-6. The game was on a knife-edge.

Alexander Zverev saves four match points but concedes the match to David Goffin

Zverev brought up set point, but the Belgian equalized again to make it 7-7. Goffin then went up 8-7 and cashed in on the match point to storm into the quarter-finals.

Going into this round-of-16 encounter, the German led the Belgian 2-1 in head-to-head clashes.

What’s more, Zverev posted both his victories against Goffin on clay – at Rome in 2018 and Munich in 2016. However, by the end of Thursday’s encounter at the French principality, revenge had, well and truly been served cold.

Having missed a set point after saving four match points, the German was livid and took his anger on his racquet, tossing it away.

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A ball boy brought it back and set it down by his chair, but Zverev clearly didn’t want it back.