By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday October 27, 2019
From ball boy to legend—Roger Federer has done it again in his hometown.
The Swiss took down Alex de Minaur 6-2 6-2 to claim his record tenth career title at the Swiss Indoors Basel, claiming his 103rd title overall.
Federer has now won four straight titles and 24 consecutive matches in his hometown and he was confident from the onset on Sunday against the 20-year-old De Minaur.
“It was fast, but very nice,” Federer said. “I think I played a really great match. It was a tough opener, the first five games we had some great rallies.
“What a moment for me to win my tenth her in my hometown in Basel.”
The Aussie got off to a solid start and didn’t appear to be overwhelmed by the moment, but when Federer outslugged him and secured the early break there was nothing De Minaur could do to slow down the Federer express.
Federer, who dropped only 18 games all week, cracked a smash to take the 3-1 lead and by that time the Australian really hadn’t done anything wrong. Federer’s serve took some time to ramp up but by mid-match he had switched into fifth gear and was able to ride it for the rest of the contest.
“I made very few unforced errors and came up with the big shots and served well when I had to.”
In total Federer dropped just 14 points on serve and never faced a break point.
Federer didn’t drop a set all week in Basel and he improves to 75-9 lifetime at the event.
“Couldn’t be more happy, actually,” said Federer of his form this week. “I feel also very good, very fresh—what a great tournament it’s been for me always, but particularly the last few times I’ve been here now.”
The Swiss has now won two titles—Halle and Basel—ten times.
Federer broke for 2-0 in the opening set behind a wicked forehand passing shot. He then broke in the final game, forcing a De Minaur forehand error with a down-the-line drive to clinch the victory in 68 minutes
The Swiss moves to within six titles of Jimmy Connors (109) on the ATP's all-time list.