The first time David Goffin played Roger Federer – five years ago as a 21-year-old lucky loser in the fourth round of the French Open – he looked barely old enough to be allowed into Roland Garros on his own. However, for nearly three hours, the bright-eyed Belgian who grew up with a poster of Federer on his bedroom wall in the suburbs of Liège went shot for shot with him when the Swiss was near the peak of his powers.

On Saturday they meet for the seventh time, in the first semi-final of the ATP World Tour Finals. Goffin, properly gnarled now at 26, is a seasoned professional respected for his tenacity, 10 years younger than the six-time champion Federer, who is having the comeback of all comebacks this year. After a brief look-in 12 months ago as a late substitute, Goffin is a worthy first-time qualifier.

Although he has yet to beat Federer and could take only three games off him in the semi-finals in Basel, their second meeting of the season should be competitive. Goffin arrives buoyed by a three-set win over Rafael Nadal (even though the world No1 was playing on his least favourite surface and one dodgy knee) and on Friday he eased past Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1.

Goffin needs no reminding of the size of the task in front of him, but may have a few surprises for Federer. “I’ve never found the key to beat Roger,” he conceded. “Honestly, I don’t know what to do tomorrow. But I’m going to try something different that I’ve never done in the past.”

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Perhaps he will dip into his past and produce shots like the one at Roland Garros in 2012, just before the end of their match, that stunned Federer. Goffin, feather-light on his feet, struck a backhand volley so perfectly it left his famous opponent rooted to the spot, 10 yards from the ball – and the perpetrator could not resist raising his thin right arm and bowing to the four sides of Court Suzanne Lenglen, drinking in the applause.

In the second semi-final on Saturday, the reborn Grigor Dimitrov plays the ebullient American Jack Sock, who was the last to qualify after winning in Bercy this month. It should be close.

The last round-robin match on Friday also should have been a tight affair, but it was desperately one-sided after Thiem, ranked No7 in the world but looking weary, failed to build on a fine start.

They traded early breaks before Goffin dramatically hit his stride to win 15 points in a row, serving out the set just past the half hour. His clinching shot was a perfectly angled forehand on the run that crossed back into play from wide on the deuce side and dipped inside the baseline. Thiem had little to show for his efforts but a graze on his left knee.

If the first set was a stiff jab to the nose, the second was a clean knockout, Goffin threading a muscular backhand down the line to leave his bewildered opponent spent – and perhaps quietly relieved. The joke doing the rounds was that the French had paid the Austrian a bonus to keep his best friend on the Tour out there as long as he could, before the Davis Cup final between France and Belgium next week. He did not look much bothered by his 71 minutes of exertion.

Indeed, if stamina were an issue, it was Thiem who looked to be suffering most. He insisted before a ball was struck that he had rested well since Bercy, but there was little evidence this week that it had done him much good. If he uses the remaining down time wisely, he should be in good shape for the Australian Open in January.

Meanwhile, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares made it through to the semi-finals with victory over the No1 seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. Murray and Soares were up against the pair who had already qualified but won 6-2, 6-4 in 73 minutes.

Tennis