Federer wins 99th title, beats Copil in Basel final

Roger Federer won his 99th tour-level title on Sunday, defeating Marius Copil 7-6 (5), 6-4 to triumph in front of his home crowd at the Swiss Indoors Basel for the ninth time.

The Swiss, who was a ball boy in Basel as a child, has now won 20 consecutive matches there, extending his career record to 71-9. Federer has lifted the trophy at the ATP World Tour 500-level tournament in four consecutive appearances, and the 37-year-old has reached the final the past 12 times he's played the event.

"It's been a magical week. It was dream run for me. To come through and win again here in my hometown, never knowing if this might be your last time that you had the opportunity to play a final, maybe win for the last time here in my city, it obviously means a lot to me and it becomes very emotional," Federer said.

The victory brings Federer within one title of the century mark, which only Jimmy Connors, with 109 tour-level singles titles, has reached. The top seed also leaves Basel with his fourth trophy of the season, a feat he has now accomplished 14 times.

Federer entered the match having never lost a tour-level final to anyone placed as low in the ATP Rankings as No. 93 Copil. But the Romanian, who earned his first two Top 10 wins earlier in the week against No. 6 Marin Cilic and No. 5 Alexander Zverev, showed no fear.

For the third time in four days, Federer fell behind an early break. Copil entered the match leading all players at the tournament in service games won (48/50) and break points saved (19/21). But Federer battled through the ensuing tie-break to take the lead.

The Romanian dug in, though, once again breaking early in the second set en route to a 4-1 lead. Copil dazzled the Swiss crowd with a number of impressive one-handed topspin backhand lobs for clean winners, and his booming serve frustrated the home favourite.

But Federer would not be denied by the 28-year-old. After breaking the two-time ATP World Tour finalist twice more, the second time when Copil missed a forehand wide by just milimetres, Federer closed out his title at the first time of asking, triumphing after one hour and 34 minutes.

"I was tense today. I was nervous. But it started more throughout the game, because I couldn't really get my game going the way I was hoping for it to go against Copil," said Federer, who adds 500 ATP Ranking points and €427,765 in prize money. "But he did very well. I think he came out and he played nice tennis. Thankfully I was really good this week by taking my opportunities, especially on the return of serve, and I think that's what got me the victory this week."

It was a dream week for Copil, who adds 300 ATP Ranking points, which will send him to a career-best of World No. 60 on Monday. The Romanian, who was trying to become the 14th first-time winner on the ATP World Tour this year, leaves Basel with €209,715 as the runner-up.

"I would love for it to be the beginning of my career at this level," said Copil. "I played good tennis. It was an amazing week. Coming here, I was fighting in order to play and to stay in the Top 100... after this week, I've just gained a lot of confidence in myself and I saw that I can play a much higher level of tennis and I could keep it up."

Federer will try to claim a record seventh title at the ATP Finals, to take place at The O2 in London from 11-18 November. If he triumphs, it will be the Swiss’ first title at the season finale since 2011.

Date: 28 October 2018, Source: ATP

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Federer dominates Medvedev to reach Basel final

Roger Federer snapped back into form on Saturday as he defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 to reach a 14th final at the Swiss Indoors in his hometown of Basel. The Swiss has made the final in Basel in 12 straight appearances, improving his record in semi-finals at the tournament to 14-1, with his only loss coming in 2002 against David Nalbandian.

"I'm very happy. I think it was my best performance this week," Federer said. "I'm starting to really get to understand the conditions and it was consistent, my most consistent match by far. The results show it as well, so I'm very happy."

The 37-year-old is not only on the verge of his ninth Basel triumph, but he can lift his 99th tour-level trophy. Federer is second on the all-time singles titles list, trailing only Jimmy Connors, who was victorious 109 times in his career.

The Swiss played his best match of the week against Medvedev, who has captured his first three ATP World Tour titles this season. After saving a break point in the first game of the match, Federer cruised through the first set in just 20 minutes and he would take a 6-1, 5-1 lead.

While Medvedev, who had won 22 of 27 tour-level matches heading into the match against Federer, broke the top seed to stay alive, the eight-time tournament champion served out the semi-final at the second time of asking. It was especially impressive considering Medvedev pushed Federer to three sets in their first ATP Head to Head meeting two weeks ago at the Shanghai Masters.

"I don't think Daniil maybe played as well as in Shanghai. Conditions are different, maybe also his legs were a little bit heavy. He's played a lot of tennis the past few weeks, so I understand," Federer said. "For me, it goes on. I'm really super-excited to be in another final here in Basel and I hope I can defend my title tomorrow."

In the final, Federer will face surprise finalist Marius Copil, who earned his second Top 10 win of the week with a stunning three-set victory against second seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. Earliar Copil defeated Marin Cilic in second round. It is the Romanian’s second ATP World Tour final, after finishing runner-up in Sofia earlier this year.

"I watched some against Cilic, he played great. Saw some against Zverev, he played great, too. He plays Federer, he plays great? I'm not sure. But anyway, I'm excited," Federer said. "He played a great match against Zverev. He served great when he needed to and then he had good variation from the baseline."

In 150 tour-level finals, Federer has never lost to someone ranked as low as Copil, who is currently World No. 93. The Swiss fell in championship matches to players ranked No. 87 twice, against Davide Sanguinetti at Milan in 2002 and Tommy Haas at Halle in 2012. Only one Basel champion - Jiri Hrebec, who captured the title in the tournament’s first edition in 1975 - did not break into the Top 10 in his career.

Federer now has 70 match wins in Basel, including victories in 56 of his past 59 matches at the event.

Date: 27 October 2018, Source: ATP and AFP

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Federer overcomes slow start to beat Struff

Roger Federer had to hurtle another slow start on Thursday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, but the eight-time champion pulled it together quickly to reach another quarter-final in his hometown. The top-seeded Swiss stayed unbeaten (4-0) against German Jan-Lennard Struff, dismissing the 6'5” right-hander for the third time this year 6-3, 7-5.

"I was ready for Struff to come out and swing. I didn't know how aggressive he was going to play or how much serve and volley he was going to do. But unfortunately, I didn't have the best first two service games. But he also played well, I must say. He connected well, he came out with a plan and it worked for him," Federer said. "In the second set it was close throughout, but I think I was able to clean up my game a little bit. I'm obviously happy I got through today."

Federer stretched his Basel winning streak to 17 and is two matches away from reaching his 14^th final and his 12^th in as many appearances. The 37-year-old was broken in the third game when he overplayed a forehand, and Struff, who was holding with ease behind 224 km/h serves, pushed his lead to 3-1 before Federer settled to take five straight games and the set behind the home faithful.

The 28-year-old Struff composed himself in the second, but serving at 40/40, 5-5, he threw in a pair of loose errors, including a double fault on break point. Federer, who's already qualified for the ATP Finals, to be held 11-18 November, will next meet Frenchman Gilles Simon, who beat last week's Stockholm Open finalist Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (4), 7-6 (0). Federer leads the pair's ATP Head to Head series 6-2.

"I'm happy that I improved after a rocky, slow start today, to play well after that. I think the crowd was really into it. They were excited that I came back from being a break down," Federer said. "I'm excited for the next round, so I'm actually quite happy how I'm playing right now."

Date: 25 October 2018, Source: ATP

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Federer survives scare to beat Krajinovic in Basel opener

Roger Federer had to shake off some rust, but the eight-time champion eventually rediscovered his “Basel” gear and leaned on the home crowd to advance 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 on Tuesday against Serbian Filip Krajinovic.

The 37-year-old Swiss won his 16^th consecutive match at the Swiss Indoors Basel, since losing the 2013 final to Juan Martin del Potro. Federer is trying to reach his 14^th hometown final and capture career title No. 99.

“It was a bit more of a hard-fought victory, but they feel good too, especially knowing that I have the day off tomorrow, so it's no problem having played three sets today,” Federer said.

The World No. 3 wasn't his usual self throughout the match, and especially at the start. Federer shanked forehands and missed whenever he stepped into the court in the beginning. The top seed faced two break points, at 15/40, 1-2, but saved both and broke immediately after, slapping a second-serve return for the first break of the match.

From 1-2 down, Federer won the next seven games against the 2017 Paris Masters finalist. But Krajinovic relaxed in the second and broke Federer, who struggled to find his forehand all match (23 unforced errors), in the eighth and 10th games to take the second.

Behind the red-and-white clad home crowd, however, Federer upped his first-serve percentage and advanced, despite being broken while first serving for the match at 5-3. The Swiss landed only 47 per cent of his first serves.

Federer struggled to find his usual precision, racking up 38 unforced errors, he also had six double faults and hit 10 aces.

“I didn't serve very well today. I think I was misfiring the corners, I was not hitting the lines enough. Clearly you make your life more difficult, but still I was up 6-2, 3-1, break points, so things could have ended very quickly today, even though I didn't have the best serve percentage stats. But maybe that's exactly what caught up to me eventually,” Federer said.

“It's just getting used to it. This is where the first rounds can be tricky.”

He will next meet German Jan-Lennard Struff, who beat Aussie John Millman 7-6 (3), 6-2. Federer has won all three of their ATP Head to Head meetings, including two earlier this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Date: 24 October 2018, Source: ATP

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