Emotions filled the air as David Goffin made his return to the clay-courts of Paris for his final run in the French Open. He was drawn against Taiwanese tennis player Tseng Chun-hsin in the first round of qualifying and put in a solid performance. The Belgian comfortably won the match 6-3, 6-1 in 73 minutes to advance to the second round of the qualifiers. It was evident that this result was very important for Goffin as he couldn’t keep a check on his emotions during his post-match interview.

The 35-year-old broke down in tears as the crowd present at the Court Suzanne-Lenglen chanted his name repeatedly and gave him a standing ovation. When asked about the value of this victory, Goffin had quite an emotional answer in store.

“In 2012, it was on this court that I really was brought to the wider attention of the public with a superb match when I was 21 years old. That really kick-started my career and to find myself here for the last Roland Garros, even in the first round of qualifications, in a packed stadium like this with a crazy atmosphere… Thank you all,” he said.

For context, Goffin had entered the 2012 French Open as a lucky loser after Gael Monfils had withdrawn due to an injury. He had then gone on to become the first lucky loser in 17 years to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam. Despite being eliminated by Roger Federer in four sets, Goffin had managed to leave his mark at the French Open.

Coming back, the Belgian also reflected on his performance against Chun-hsin later on and remarked that he was quite nervous when the match was about to commence. However, he was able to calm himself down and as the match progressed and was able to secure a straight-set win.

“Today, everything was there – the level was there, the emotion was there. It was not easy at the beginning of the match when I heard my name, when I stepped on the court. I already felt my heartbeat getting a bit higher. At the end I played really well and the speech at the end was a lot of emotions. It was an amazing moment for me, something that I’ve never felt on the court in my career,” he told rolandgarros.com.

Having gotten past the first round of qualifying, Goffin is now scheduled to take on Toby Samuel in his next match at the Roland Garros. The 35-year-old needs to win three qualifying rounds in order to reach the main draw, which won’t be an easy task to say the least.