TENNIS SWISS INDOORS – Roger Federer claimed his 82nd overall career and sixth Swiss Indoors Basel title 6-2, 6-2 in just 51 minutes against 7th seed, David Goffin. The Belgian was no match for Federer who sealed up his hometown title without facing a single breakpoint in the final. From Basel, Andreen Soley
Roger Federer claimed his 82nd overall career and sixth Swiss Indoors Basel title in just 51 minutes against 7th seed, David Goffin. Goffin compiled an impressive 43-2 record across all levels since his first round loss against Andy Murray at Wimbledon. However, he was no match for Federer who sealed up his hometown title without facing a single breakpoint in the final. Goffin could not get into any of the Federer service games as he found it impossible to get a read on “where it was going. It’s not easy to return his serve, that’s why it was a nightmare for me today.”
Federer got off to a very fast start. He won the toss and elected to receive which was a cunning move as he must have noted how difficult Goffin found it to serve out his match versus Borna Coric on Saturday as he had squandered three match points. Aided by a Goffin double fault and two backhand errors, Federer broke in the first game of the set. Both men then held serve fairly comfortably until the 7th game when Federer generated three breakpoints. Goffin would surrender the second break with a backhand error allowing Federer to serve out the first set at love in just twenty-four minutes. Goffin admitted that he was a little bit nervous at the start of the match. “It’s never easy to start a final against Roger, the pressure is all on me…I didn’t play my best match of the week.”
Goffin would show some signs of resistance at the start of the second set despite opening with a double fault. He comfortably held serve in the first game and even sealed up the third game with three service winners. But his inability to gain any traction in Federer’s service games made the work that much harder on his own. Thus, it came as little surprise that he would eventually find the pressure too much and he found himself down a break after the fifth game even though he started out with 30-0 love with a great body serve and another one out wide. Federer consolidated the break even as he served a double fault to give the Swiss crowd jitters for 15-all. Federer held to 30 for 4-2 and then broke Goffin again on a clean forehand winner for 5-2. Federer would then serve out the match, capturing his hometown title, a remarkable 6th title out of eleven final appearances.
It is sweet success for Federer who has played under a cloud this week. Just this morning, Rene Stauffer and Simon Graf published a piece in a local German paper about his battles with Roger Brennwald, President and rights holder of Swiss Indoors Basel. Graf and Stauffer suggest that Brennwald has felt threatened by Roger Federer’s interest in the tournament as both a future tournament director and a potential business venture with his agent and business partner in the firm Team 8, Tony Godsick. The tension between the two Rogers has resulted in stalled talks regarding Federer’s contract for participation in the Swiss Indoors Basel.
The benefit for Federer is that he was not required to perform any sponsorship duties which allowed him to focus entirely on just playing in the tournament. As he had a late start on Wednesday, he knew that he would have to play five days straight if he wanted to win the title, so he “went into a cocoon” of just playing and resting for the matches. Federer believed that he “controlled the match with his serve and with [his] variation on the return,” which was unlike his experience of Goffin in their first meeting at the French Open in Paris in 2012. In that match, Federer recalled that he “had a hard time returning [Goffin’s] serve and a hard time dominating the baseline.” He’s happy that things were different this time around and that he was able to get the win.
