Roger Federer beats Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4 after 1 hour and 18 minutes to reach a record-breaking 15th final in his home tournament at the Swiss Indoor Open in Basel.
Federer will be bidding to win his 10th title in front of his home fans in his 13th consecutive final at the St. Jakobshalle.
The Swiss legend dropped 11 points on his first serve and saved the only break point in the tenth game of the second set, while he was serving for the win. He broke once in each set to close out the match in straight sets.
In the first set Federer dropped six points in his service games. Tsitsipas saved three break points in the third game, but Federer converted his sixth break point chance in the fifth game. Federer hit an ace, as he was serving for the opening set at 5-4 after 43 minutes.
Federer earned an early break in the first game of the second set with a forehand down the line winner. The 9-time Basel champion held his next four service games and saved the only break point he faced at 5-4 before wrapping up the match with a forehand drive-volley winner.
“It was nice to come out strong. It was a really intense 35-40 minutes to start. I had a good middle section which gave me the first set and the lead in the second set and I never looked back. It’s hard to believe that I am in another final in Basel”, said Federer.
Federer will face Australian Next Gen player Alex De Minaur, who battled past Reilly Opelka 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-3) after 2 hours and 34 minutes. De minaur has become the first Australian player to reach the Basel final since Mark Philippousis in 1997.
De Minaur did not convert a break point in the opening set, when Opelka rallied to force a tie-break. De Minaur got two mini-break to race to a 6-1 lead and hit a lob on the ninth point to win the first tie-break.
Both players went on serve with no breaks setting up a second tie-break. Opelka earned his first mini-break with a cross-court passing shot. The US player went up a double mini-break, but De Minaur pulled back both break points and clawed his back from 1-4 to 4-4 with a big serve. Opelka hit his backhand pass to win the tie-break 7-4 forcing the match to the third set.
The third set went on serve with no breaks until the decisive tie-break. De Minaur won the tie-break 7-3 with three aces.
“Anytime you step out against Reilly, he is going to bring out that power. He is a hell of a competitor. I knew he was not going to give up. It was the flip of a coin. In the tie-break of the third set I guessed right a couple of times and made some good returns”, said De Minaur.
