Federer survives to reach Basel semi-final

Roger Federer survived a surprise test at the Swiss Indoors Basel on Friday before making the semi-finals at his home event for the 14th time with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

The French seventh seed, who had dropped 10 straight sets in four losing matches against the world number two, shocked the home crowd at the St Jakobshalle by winning the first set.

“Today was a battle. I had to somehow dig and fight and sometimes these wins are more rewarding than just leading from the get-go and dominating throughout and bringing it home,” said Federer. “These are better matches to win sometimes, actually. I just had a tough time really getting into it and he was rock solid, so he deserved that first set, but the reaction from me was really important.”

Federer, who is into his eighth ATP World Tour semi-final of the season, seeks to earn his eighth title in Basel.

Mannarino broke to love at 4-4 in the opening set before winning his first-ever set against Federer without a problem. The seven-time Basel champion, intense as ever at an event for which he was once a ballboy, quickly won five games in a row to turn the momentum around.

Yet after failing to break Mannarino with two opportunities in the first game of the deciding set, it was Federer who was in trouble. He faced two break points at 2-3, and the Frenchman did well with his second opportunity, lacing a forehand return on the baseline, a shot that most players would scramble to simply put back into play.

But somehow, Federer flicked his one-handed backhand for a winner down the line and never looked back from there, winning the final four games of the match to advance to the semi-finals.

Federer explained his thought process on that crucial break point save. “Before, I hope that I don’t have to hit a shot like this. During, I hope that it’s going to go in and he can’t reach it. And after, it’s thank God I made it. And then obviously it’s so, so important at deuce to somehow win the game. It doesn’t matter how you do it. you can’t allow yourself to lose a game after saving two break points the way you did, and I held my nerves, held the game, and was able to get through it.”

Federer will face third seed David Goffin who downed American Jack Sock 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Federer holds a 5-0 ATP Head to Head record against Goffin, including a pair of victories in Basel. The Swiss cruised to a win in the 2014 final, conceding only four games, and defeated the Belgian again in a tighter quarter-final match the following year, prevailing 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Date: 27 October 2017, Source: ATP and AFP