David Goffin to end tennis career at end of 2026: ‘Hardest decision ever’
Belgium's David Goffin is playing his final season on the professional tennis circuit. On Friday, the 35-year-old announced that he would be hanging up his racquets at the end of 2026.
Goffin reached his peak in 2017 when he played the Masters final and climbed to seventh in the world rankings. He has won a total of six ATP titles and reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
“I've given everything for this sport. Tennis has given me more than I ever dared to dream: the matches, the battles, the wins, the losses, the emotions, the people who were there through all of it. And that's why this has been one of the hardest decisions of my life,” Goffin said in an Instagram post. "This will be my last season."
Breakthrough against Federer
Goffin began playing tennis at the age of six in Barchon, Liège, and turned professional in 2009. Three years later came his breakthrough at the highest level with a fourth-round appearance at Roland Garros, where, as a Grand Slam debutant, he gave Swiss legend Roger Federer a run for his money.
In 2016, he reached the quarter-finals in Paris. This was followed by quarter-final appearances at the Australian Open in 2017 and Wimbledon in 2019 and 2022. His best result at the US Open was reaching the fourth round. Goffin played in 15 finals on the ATP Tour, winning six of them: Kitzbühel and Metz in 2014, Shenzhen in 2017, Tokyo in 2017, Montpellier in 2021 and Marrakech in 2022.
“I've given everything for this sport. Tennis has given me more than I ever dared to dream"
At the end of 2017, Goffin caused a sensation at the Masters in London by reaching the final. In the group stage, he defeated Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem, before beating Federer in the semi-finals.
This earned him seventh place in the ATP rankings, his highest ranking ever. After the Masters, Goffin played in the Davis Cup final with Belgium against France, but just as in 2015, against Great Britain in Ghent, the Belgian team lost.
In recent years, he has struggled with injury and has since slipped to 156th in the world rankings. “All those years at the highest level have taken their toll on my body. In particular, the knee injury I sustained last year played a decisive role in my decision to retire,” he said.
"At a certain point, you have to be honest with yourself”
“Over the past two decades, I’ve also been living out of a suitcase non-stop. Constant travelling, different time zones, dealing with jet lag and having to perform time and again on different surfaces – that too takes its toll after a while. It became harder to recharge physically and mentally week after week at the highest level. At a certain point, you have to be honest with yourself.”
What the future holds for Goffin remains to be seen. He wants to “pass on his knowledge, and guide and inspire the new generation of tennis players” and, in addition, “seize the opportunity to discover new challenges outside of tennis”.
David Goffin at the European Open in Brussels in 2025 © BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS
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