Goffin won just two games in a 6-0, 6-2 win for Dimitrov that sent the Bulgarian through to the semi-finals with a group match in hand.

The 26-year-old had promised to maintain an “aggressive mindset” throughout and did so, winning the first nine games and leaving Goffin with little hope of salvaging the match.

“He was a little bit more aggressive,” Goffin said afterwards, refusing to blame a physically and mentally draining win over Rafael Nadal on Monday for his sub-par performance.

“He came to the net from the beginning, from the first point.

“It was not easy for me to lose my serve from the start.

“It was tough for my confidence after that when it was 0-4.

“In the second, I had some opportunities to come back, to break back, but he was really solid.

“He served well. He was really solid until the end of the match.”

But Goffin would not accept any doom and gloom regarding the ignominy of being dispatched in such emphatic fashion.

“It's just a loss, a defeat,” Goffin added.

“I have to now prepare the next one, to be ready for the next one.

“As a tennis player, normally you lose almost every week. Like I said, it's just another loss.

“The most important is to think about the next match.”

Goffin will face Austria’s Dominic Thiem on Friday, who is due to play Nadal’s replacement Pablo Carreno Busta in Wednesday’s night match.

The clash is likely to see both players needing a win for any chance of a place in Saturday’s semi-finals and Goffin admitted he would be keeping an eye on proceedings this evening in an effort to get an early edge.

“I know him really well,” Goffin said.

“I practice really often with Dominic.

“I have already an idea with the tactics against him because I played so many times against him.

“We played a lot of good matches against each other.

“It's not going to be easy, but I'm going to watch his match first tonight.”