TENNIS SWISS INDOORS – On Sunday David Goffin and Roger Federer will face each other in the final of the ATP 500 Basel. The Swiss defeated Karlovic 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 in his semifinal whilst the Belgian won against Croatian teenager Borna Coric 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. From Basel Andreen Soley
Federer progressed to his 123rd Tour-level final with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 win over Ivo Karlovic. It is Federer’s nine straight final in his hometown tournament and even as he acknowledged that “the streak is great” he is anticipating a difficult final because Goffin has won so “much this year. You almost tend to forget how to lose at one point.”
Even as Federer took the 1st set against Karlovic in a tense and nervy tiebreak that saw him come back from an early minibreak down, the end was not entirely certain for Federer nor the Basel crowd. In the second set, they were silent during Karlovic’s service games and jubilant whenever Federer successfully served out a game. They had cause to be worried as Karlovic remained stalwart on serve and it was Federer who faltered and gave up the break in the second set which allowed Karlovic to level the match. As he prepared for the decider, Federer admitted that “I didn’t expect a break in the third set, so I was very happy to get that and bring it home.”
That vital break came in the 4th game when Karlovic went down three breakpoints and double faulted. It was an uncharacteristic service game and one can’t help but wonder if the partisan crowd wasn’t a factor. Federer admitted that the “crowd support was amazing” and hopes for more of the same tomorrow. For a tournament that has been marred by grumblings about the lack of a contract for the hometown son, Federer, it would be gratifying for him to seal his 6th Swiss Indoors Basel title.
Standing in Federer’s way is David Goffin who clinched his first top ten win by defeating world no. 9 Milos Raonic to make the semifinals in his Basel debut. Goffin took out Rafael Nadal’s slayer and wild card, Borna Coric in three sets to set up his 2nd meeting with Federer and reach his third Tour-level final. Goffin sealed the 1st set against Coric in 44 minutes. From the start, there was little to separate the two within the first six games as neither faced a single breakpoint. Then in that vital seventh game, Goffin generated and converted his first breakpoint with a well – timed forehand down the line to yield an error in response from Coric. Though Goffin would consolidated for 5-3, it was a difficult service game as he served two double faults and only produced one first serve. Goffin did succeed in serving out the first set at 15, but Coric was not deterred and quickly capitalized on some loose play from Goffin to go up 3-0 in the second set. Coric would comfortably hold serve for the remainder of the set and take it 6-3.
In the third set, we were left to wonder who would falter first. Coric showed early signs of frustration as he netted a backhand to go down love-15 in the second game of the set. He would hold for 1-all after yielding two deuce games. Goffin then held to 15 for 2-1, putting the pressure right back on Coric. Coric seemed assured of holding at 40-15 but then he sent a forehand into the net and double faulted to send the game to deuce. This time around, he could not manufacture an escape as he squandered his earned advantage with a second double fault to take the game to deuce again. A forehand error along with an ill-fated net approach allowed Goffin to break with a backhand-down-the-line winner. Coric could only scream at himself in frustration as Goffin went up 3-1. Goffin would consolidate the break for 4-1 and play his most comfortable service game at 5-2; he held to love with serves that didn’t venture over 160 km/hour which Coric did not punish. By the two hour mark, Goffin had survived a circuitous route to the Swiss Indoors Basel final and had three match points. Though he would squander them all, Goffin held firm with one of his biggest serves of the match at 207 km at deuce to generate and take his 4th match point when Coric sent a lob long. He won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
In his post-match interview Goffin would blame the flubbed match points on nerves and offer a teasing jab at hoping for a “revenge of the French Open” if he did meet Federer. In 2012, Federer ended his run in the round of sixteen at the French Open with a 4-set win. It promises to be an intriguing final. Federer declared his hope that “I can win here at home in Basel. It will mean the world to me. I’m looking forward to the match. I think it’s going to be an exciting but a tough one.”
