By Chris Oddo | Friday October 26, 2018
Roger Federer was pushed to the brink by Gilles Simon but once again came through to notch his 18th consecutive win at the Swiss Indoors Basel.
Photo Source: Swiss Indoors
It’s been nearly two decades since Roger Federer has lost a quarterfinal in Basel.
At the very least, it will be another year.
Federer survived a roller coaster two hour and 34-minute tussle with Gilles Simon on Friday, notching a closely contested 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-4 victory to book his spot in the Swiss Indoors Basel for the 15th time.
The eight-time champion was made to work from the very beginning as he dropped serve in his very first service game and later needed to save a set point at 5-6 ad-out to force a first-set tiebreaker.
Federer would take the opening-set tiebreaker convincingly, converting his first set point at the one hour mark to grab it 7-6(1).
But Simon would put Federer to task in the second set, holding steady through a run of four consecutive breaks then finally winning the final three games of the set to take it, 6-4.
A brilliant backhand pass got Simon a chance for his third break of the set and he took it for a 5-4 lead with a backhand return winner on the next point.
Federer raced out to a 4-1 lead in the decider but he lost the plot and was broken for 3-4 by Simon, who then held to level at 4-all.
In total Federer was broken five times on ten opportunities in the match, but he held firm at the finish, holding for 5-4 and then breaking Simon at the eleventh hour to seal a topsy-turvy victory that sent applause and sighs of relief rining through the Basel rafters.
The match was eerily similar to Federer’s first-round performance in which he faced 14 break points and surrendered four breaks before defeating Filip Krajinovic 6-4 in the third set.
It’s rare to see Federer struggle so much with his serve, particularly on the fast indoor service at the St. Jakobshalle. And yet he has been in trouble almost constantly this week, facing 25 break points and being broken ten times in his first three rounds.
Federer’s struggles weren’t limited to the serve. He finished with 40 winners and 60 unforced errors on the evening, including 31 forehand errors.
Nevertheless, the Swiss has once again found a way to move closer to his 99th career title, and will face Daniil Medvedev in Saturday’s semifinals. Medvedev took over the ATP lead in hardcourt wins by notching his 37th on Friday in a 4-6, 6-3, 3-6 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Federer will bid to reach the final for the 12th consecutive time at Basel on Saturday, where his career record now stands at 69-9.
In other quarterfinal action on Friday at Basel, second-seeded Alexander Zverev rolled past Roberto Bautista Agut, 7-5, 6-3, while Marius Copil of Romania reached his biggest career semifinal with a 7-6(6), 7-5 win over American Taylor Fritz.