ATP Basel: Roger Federer wins 10th victory at home game!
Roger Federer clinched his tenth victory at his home tournament in Basel. In a high-class final, the Alex de Minaur from Australia beat 6-2 and 6-2.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Oct 27, 2019, 04:57 pm
Both players showed high intensity from the beginning. Federer had a 40-0 debut, the 2-1 he came at serve de Minaur to 0:40. The second breakball: a mammoth rally from backhand cross balls, Federer twisted at the end, as he started to longline shot - after 39th strikes! The maestro, however, proved his strong physical condition when he struck at the next point, this time the backhand came earlier along the line - and into the field, Federer smashed himself for the first break.
The record winner had already been clear in the run-up that he must make every point several times against de Minaur - in his two-and-a-half-hour semi-final against Reilly Opelka the run-strong Australian had made only four mistakes without any trouble. Accordingly patient, but with just the right aggressiveness, Federer went on to make a second break to 6: 2, this time with the help of the 20-year-old from Sydney.
Federer made the break in the second half of the game and quickly drew 3-0 (making five games in a row). At 4: 2 Federer then had to survive a 0:30, a worth seeing backhand pass for 30:30 proved to be extremely helpful, Federer finally made the 5: 2 and managed another break to victory.
Federer: "Good times are good"
"I think I played a great match, he was a great opponent, we showed the first four, five games of high intensity tennis," Federer said afterwards. "I could not be happier, feel good and fresh." Will Federer attack the 11th title in 2020? "I hope so, I hope the body holds, the mind too, it looks good so far so good times are up to date", says the 38-year-old.
"I was really hoping Roger might be sick of winning here and giving someone else a chance," joked de Minaur at the award ceremony. "It will only go up for you," congratulated Federer de Minaur on his strong year with three tournament victories. "I never thought that I would win here ten times, I never thought I'd win just once ... that's why it's very special," Federer said - and had to stop, because then his tears came.
For the world ranking list third Federer it is already the 10th victory at his home tournament, in which he once acted as a ball boy. Federer has been unbeaten in Basel for 24 matches, and did not bet for the entire 2019 tournament week. The win in Basel is his 103rd tournament victory in total, Federer thus concludes on the overall leader of the Open Era, Jimmy Connors (109 tournament victories) on.
Federer is registered for the Masters tournament in Paris next week. Whether he starts there will, as usual, decide in the course of the next few hours and the aftermath of Basel.