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ROGER FEDERER

Roger Federer claims 99th ATP title with Basel triumph

Roger Federer battled to claim his 99th career ATP Tour title on Sunday, rallying to defeat Romanian qualifier Marius Copil 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the Swiss Indoors final at Basel.

Published: 28 October 2018 20:21 CET

Roger Federer claims 99th ATP title with Basel triumph

Roger Federer with poses with ball boys and girls after winning the Swiss Indoors final in Basel on Sunday. Photo: AFP

The top seed claimed his ninth trophy at his home event as he overcame an inspired opponent who took the lead early in each set but was pegged back by the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

Federer will now aim to win number 100 by the end of the season.

“It's been a magical week for me, a dream run for me,” Federer said, prior to moving onto his traditional post-final pizza party with ballkids — of which he was one here two decades ago.

Federer won his 20th straight match at the tournament and has played in 12 straight Basel finals.

The 93rd-ranked Copil was competing in the biggest match of his life after emerging from qualifying.

But after knocking out sixth seed Marin Cilic and backing it up by defeating third seed Alexander Zverev in the last four, the Romanian found himself facing the king of the court in the final.

Victory was the 37-year-old Federer's 71st at the event.

He will be aiming to complete his century at the ATP Finals in London, which starts in a fortnight's time, but has yet to announce if he will travel to Paris for next week's final Masters event of the season, where he last
played in 2015.

Copil began the match with a break in the third game but lost it in the sixth as Federer levelled the opening set.

As the first set went to a tie-break, Federer needed three set points to take the lead as his opponent returned long.

Copil again showed his steel with an early break in the second set before Federer made another fightback with an overhead winner to break back in the seventh game.

The top seed grabbed a second break, with the Swiss serving out victory a game later on his first match point.

The title was the fourth this season for Federer, after the Australian Open, Rotterdam and Stuttgart.

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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