Roger Federer won Basel, his hometown tournament for a record 10th time. In the final, Federer defeated next-gen star Alex De Minaur in straight sets. For the first time in Basel, Federer won the tournament without dropping a set. This was something Federer did not know and acknowledged he may have gotten lucky with the withdrawal of fellow Swiss player Stan Wawrinka.
Along with it being his 10th career title in Basel, it was Federer’s 103rd career win on the ATP tour. This is one step closer to the record held by Jimmy Connors who has 109 titles on the ATP tour. At the rate Federer is playing and winning, it is very possible he could tie or pass Jimmy Connors next year.
Federer’s First Title Since Wimbeldon Disaster
Federer’s last title came back at the Wimbeldon tune-up tournament in Halle, a tournament he has also won 10 times. After that victory, Federer made it to the WImbeldon final where he matched up against rival Novak Djokovic. In that final Federer’s season would change. Federer had two match points on his serve in the deciding fifth set and squandered away those chances to hoist a ninth Wimbeldon title. Federer would go on to lose in a newly implemented final set tie-breaker. It was evident the loss effected Federer. Here are his results after Wimbeldon:
- Cincinnati (3rd Round)
- US Open (QF)
- Shanghai (QF)
Those losses all came against players Federer is expected defeat (Andrey Rublev, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev).
An Emotional Title for Federer
When Federer was kid, he was a ball boy for the tournament in Basel. This always hits him when he competes in Basel every year. Even after winning his 10th title there, Federer got emotional and cried during the trophy presentation. It all has to do with seeing the ball boys and knowing that he was in their shoes 25-30 years ago. To see how far he’s come since then, it would be hard to not get emotional.
What’s Next For Federer?
It was announced on Monday, that Federer has withdrawn from the Paris Masters 1000 tournament. However, Federer did say he will see the Paris crowd in May for the French Open. Federer will play the French Open for a second consecutive year after skipping the event from 2016-2018.
As for the remainder of this year, Federer will play the Nitto ATP Finals and that will complete his competitive 2019 season. Along with that Federer does have two exhibition matches to finish off the year. On November 19th, he will go to Chile and play Alexander Zverev. Then on November 20th, he will go to Argentina and play Juan Martin del Potro. An exciting end to the year or the 38 year old Federer. After Roger Federer won Basel, the chase for 109 titles will continue on November 10th in London for the Nitto ATP Finals.
