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Goffin suffered an injury-ridden season in 2021 in which he only managed to play in 29 games. The 31-year-old is slowly starting to make his return to competitive tennis and the straight-set victory over Bagnis is a major milestone for the Belgian.
The previous season ended for Goffin at the US Open in September. The player suffered knee problems and, unsurprisingly, lost 3-0 to Mackenzie McDonald.
His first game since that loss was last Thursday at the Melbourne Summer Set, where he lost 2-0 to Slovakia’s Alex Molcan.
Nonetheless, Goffin managed to shake off the cobwebs fairly quickly and win his next game against Bagnis 6-4 6-4.
The player has now qualified for the second round and will then face either Argentinian Federico Delbonis or Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Elsewhere, fifth-seed Lorenzo Sonego rebounded after losing the opening set to Frenchman Hugo Gaston, the Italian advancing to the round of 16 with a 3-6 6-3 7-5 victory.
Fellow seventh seed Fabio Fognini had relatively few problems in a 6-3 7-5 win over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier while Australian wild card Jordan Thompson defeated American Marcos Giron 6- 4 6-2.
In Adelaide International 2, seeded Alexander Bublik and Frances Tiafoe fell after losses in straight sets.
Sixth-seeded Kazakh Bublik was beaten 7-6 (5) 6-2 by Australian wild card Aleksandar Vukic while seventh seeded Tiafoe was sidelined 6-2 6-3 by compatriot USA Tommy Paul.
Spaniard Jaume Munar hammered home hope John Millman 6-2 6-2 while Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech won 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-3 in a tense clash against the American Mackenzie McDonald.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know ahead of 2022 Australian Open, with Novak Djokovic now able to defend title
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