Roger Federer lifting the Swiss Indoors Basel trophy is one of the longest-standing traditions in tennis. Never, however, had he done it at the expense of Rafael Nadal. Until now.
For the first time in the illustrious 34-match history of the rivalry, Federer and Nadal faced each other in Federer’s Swiss stomping grounds. It wasn’t easy, but Federer benefited from home-court advantage and held off Nadal 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 after two hours and two minutes in Sunday’s final.
It was Federer’s seventh Basel triumph and he now owns a 61-9 record at the tournament.
With a 10-23 lifetime mark against his nemesis, Federer needed a win in the worst way. He came out playing like it, breaking in the fifth game and at love in the ninth game to seize set one in style. The 34-year-old consolidated his initial break with an incredible forehand pass on a break point at 3-2.
Nadal finally earned a break of his own at 5-5 in the second. It proved to be enough for the third-seeded Spaniard to force a decider, as he promptly delivered a love hold one game later.
Much to the delight of the pro-Federer crowd, the 17-time Grand Slam champion regained control in set three. Despite missing a break chance at 2-1, he struck decisively at 4-3. Nadal set a backhand well long on break point before Federer survived a deuce game at 5-3 to clinch victory.
“My fourth time here, finally I get to the finals–so I’m very happy for that,” Nadal said during the trophy ceremony. “Very emotional week; all the matches…a lot of fight. I believe that it’s been a very important week for me, for this year and for the future.”
As usual, pleasantries were exchange by both former world No. 1 players in the world. Federer even told Nadal that just by making it this far in Basel for the fist time, “it’s like you won the final.”
Both men will now head to the Paris Masters for the last tournament of the proverbial regular season (before the eight-man World Tour Finals). Federer awaits either Thomaz Bellucci or Teymuraz Gabashvili, while Nadal could open against Lukas Rosol.
Topics: Basel tennis final, Nadal vs Federer, Rafa Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Sports, Swiss Indoors, Swiss Open, Tennis News, Tennis Rivalry
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