By Chris Oddo | Sunday, October 26, 2014
Roger Federer claimed his sixth Basel title and inched closer to Novak Djokovic for the year-end ranking in the process.
Photo Source: AFP
Don’t look now, but Roger Federer is making a strong bid for reclaiming the ATP’s No. 1 ranking.
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The suddenly on fire Swiss maestro won his 12th consecutive match on Sunday to claim his sixth career Swiss Indoors Basel title, taking down rising star David Goffin, 6-2, 6-2 in 52 minutes.
The victory marks Federer’s 5th title of 2014, and the 82nd of his career. He climbs within 12 of Ivan Lendl for 2nd on the ATP’s all-time title list.
Federer, who has not lost an indoor match in 2014 and who is widely considered as the game’s greatest indoor player, rolled through his eight service games like a skier gliding down the Alps, dropping only five points all afternoon and never facing a break point.
Federer broke Goffin in his first service game and cruised through the first set, never giving the Belgian, who was bidding to become just the second man from his country to claim three ATP titles, a chance to play his way into the match.
A pair of backhand winners gave Federer the chance for a double-break lead, and he converted to grab a 5-2 lead when Goffin netted a backhand.
Federer would break two more times in the second set to finish running away.
Federer claims his sixth Basel title in his 11th Basel final with the victory and he now has won six or more titles at six events during his illustrious career:
Halle, 7
Wimbledon, 7
World Tour Finals, 6
Cincinnati, 6
Dubai, 6
Basel, 6
The world No. 2 inches closer to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic with the victory, gaining 200 ranking points. Djokovic has 2,500 points coming off in the next two events at Paris and London, while Federer will only drop 400.
The gap between the two will stand at 2,230 points on Monday.
Notes, Numbers
Federer leads the Tour in overall match wins (66), hard court wins (50), Top 10 wins (13), ATP Masters 1000 wins (26) and final appearances (10) this season.
Goffin is projected to climb to a career-high ranking of around 22 on Monday as a result of his efforts in Basel. He also notched his first top ten win (d. Raonic) this week.
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