Federer Back Home In Basel
Race to London Home Stretch – The final multiple tournament week of the season on the ATP World Tour takes place with the 500–level Swiss Indoors in Basel and the 250–level Valencia Open. There are two spots available for the season finale and 13 of the Top 20 in the Emirates ATP Race To London are in action.
Emirates ATP Race to London Update: With 15 days remaining in the Emirates ATP Race To London, two spots are still up for grabs at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals from Nov. 15-22. The Top 8 players in the race on Nov. 9 will compete at the year-end championships. Six players have qualified so far: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych. Marin Cilic was eliminated from London contention when David Ferrer won the Vienna title on Sunday. A maximum of 1,500 race points are on the line after the Kremlin Cup at an ATP World Tour 250 event in Valencia (Oct. 26-Nov. 1); an ATP World Tour 500 event in Basel (Oct. 26-Nov. 1); and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (Nov. 2-8).
|
Race |
Player |
Points |
Sunday Final |
Title |
This Week |
|
1 |
Novak Djokovic* |
14,285 |
——- |
——- |
——- |
|
2 |
Andy Murray* |
7,870 |
——- |
——- |
——- |
|
3 |
Roger Federer* |
6,750 |
——- |
——- |
Basel |
|
4 |
Stan Wawrinka* |
6,140 |
——- |
——- |
Basel |
|
5 |
Tomas Berdych* |
4,340 |
Stockholm |
4,440 |
——- |
|
6 |
Rafael Nadal* |
4,330 |
——- |
——- |
Basel |
|
7 |
Kei Nishikori |
3,945 |
——- |
——- |
——- |
|
8 |
David Ferrer |
3,745 |
Vienna |
3,945 |
Valencia |
|
9 |
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga |
2,545 |
——- |
——- |
——- |
|
10 |
Richard Gasquet |
2,535 |
——- |
——- |
Basel |
|
11 |
Kevin Anderson |
2,385 |
——- |
——- |
Basel |
|
12 |
John Isner |
2,315 |
——- |
——- |
Basel |
|
13 |
Marin Cilic |
2,295 |
Moscow |
2,395 |
Basel |
|
14 |
Milos Raonic |
2,170 |
——- |
——- |
——- |
|
15 |
Gilles Simon |
2,055 |
——- |
——- |
——- |
|
16 |
Feliciano Lopez |
1,680 |
——- |
——- |
Valencia |
|
17 |
David Goffin |
1,670 |
——- |
——- |
Basel |
|
18 |
Bernard Tomic |
1,630 |
——- |
——- |
Valencia |
|
19 |
Dominic Thiem |
1,555 |
——- |
——- |
Basel |
|
20 |
Benoit Paire |
1,508 |
Brest Challenger |
1,558 |
Valencia |
* Qualified
Swiss Indoors (Basel) – Six-time Basel winner Roger Federer will be making his 16th appearance in his hometown tournament (56-9 record). Countryman Stan Wawrinka, who is appearing in the tournament for the 12th time (9-11 record), is the No. 2 seed. No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal returns to Basel for the second straight year and he is playing back-to-back years for the first time since 2003-04.The other seeds are: No. 4 Kevin Anderson, No. 5 Richard Gasquet, No. 6 John Isner, No. 7 Marin Cilic and No. 8/last year’s runner-up David Goffin. Federer is the only former champion in the field. He is 6-5 in finals, reaching the title match in each of the last nine years (6-3).In last year’s final, Federer defeated first-time Basel participant Goffin 62 62.
Roger Reigning Champ – Federer enters with a 53-9 match record on the season, including nine finals (5-4), second only to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s 13 finals (9-4). Among Federer’s five titles, he won for the seventh time in Dubai and ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati where he beat the Top-2 players back-to-back (Murray, Djokovic) without getting broken. He also won for the eighth time in Halle. All four of his runner-up losses have come to Djokovic, including at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells and Rome and Grand Slam events at Wimbledon and US Open. Federer is 56-9 lifetime in Basel and the last time he failed to reach the final in Basel came in 2003 when he lost to Ivan Ljubicic in the second round. He did not play in Basel in 2004-05 but he’s reached the final every year since 2006 when he won the title for the first time (d. F. Gonzalez). He began with a 14-6 record in Basel but over the last nine years is 42-3.
Roger as Top Seed – This is the eighth time Federer comes into Basel as the top seed and the previous seven times he reached the final, winning five times. He is 33-2 as the No. 1 seed in Basel. Here is a look at his results:
2014 – Winner (d. Goffin)
2012– Runner-up (l. to del Potro)
2010 – Winner (d. Djokovic)
2009 – Runner-up (l. to Djokovic)
2008 – Winner (d. Nalbandian)
2007 – Winner (d. Nieminen)
2006 – Winner (d. Gonzalez)
Stan the Man – Wawrinka comes in as the No. 2 seed, the highest in his 12th Basel appearance (9-11 record). The 30-year-old Swiss is 4-0 in finals this season, winning his second Grand Slam crown a Roland Garros. Wawrinka’s best results in Basel came in 2006 and ’11 when he advanced to the semi-finals. He brings a 5-1 head-to-head record against big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in the first round.
1,000 Aces Club – For the first time going into an ATP World Tour tournament, three players with at least 1,000 aces are in the main draw. The trio of Ivo Karlovic (1,321), John Isner (1,162) and Kevin Anderson (1,003) have surpassed 1,000 aces this season, with Anderson the latest to accomplish the feat in Vienna where he hit 23 in his quarter-final loss to Steve Johnson.
Rafa Returns –Nadal is back in Basel for the second consecutive year after reaching the quarter-finals last year (l. to Coric). This is the first time he’s played back-to-back years in Basel since 2003-04 when he lost in the first round both years. Nadal is coming off a strong performance in China where he reached the final in Beijing (l. to Djokovic) and followed with a semi-final at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Tsonga). Nadal has won two career indoor ATP World Tour titles, at 2005 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid and 2013 Sao Paulo (on clay).
Nestor Eyes Milestone – Daniel Nestor is closing in on a historic doubles milestone. The 43-year-old Canadian is three match wins away from becoming the first player in the Open Era to register 1,000 career match wins. Nestor is playing with Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Since teaming up with the Frenchman in Montreal for the first time, they have compiled a 16-4 match record together.
Valencia Open (Valencia) – The Valencia Open, one of three tournaments in Spain, is led by top seed David Ferrer, who is a three-time champion (2008, ’10, ’12). This is the seventh consecutive year the tournament is being played at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, one of the most unique places in Valencia. The tournament was played on clay up until 2008. The other seeds are: No. 2 Feliciano Lopez, No. 3 Bernard Tomic, No. 4 Fabio Fognini, No. 5 Benoit Paire, No. 6 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, No. 7 Roberto Bautista Agut and No. 8 Jeremy Chardy. There are three other former champions in the field: Marcel Granollers (2011), Nicolas Almagro (2006-07) and Fernando Verdasco (2004).
Spaniards Lead the Way – There are nine Spaniards in the main draw (not including potential qualifiers). Since the tournament moved to hard courts in 2009, there have been three Spanish winners, Ferrer in 2010 and ’12 and Granollers in 2011. There are two all-Spanish first-round matches: Bautista Agut vs. (WC) Almagro and Garcia-Lopez vs. Verdasco.
Ferrer Top Seed Again – This is the fifth straight year Ferrer is the top seed in Valencia. The 33-year-old Spaniard won the title on clay in 2008 and on hard courts in 2010 (d. Granollers) and 2012 (d. Dolgopolov). He has a 32-7 career record since making his tournament debut in 2003. He also was runner-up in 2005 (l. to Andreev) and in 2013 (l. to Youzhny). He is 5-0 in ATP World Tour finals after winning Vienna (d. Johnson). Earlier this month, he captured his 25th career title in Kuala Lumpur (d. Lopez). He has won at least one title every year since 2010 (and nine of last 10 years). He is trying to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the fifth time in six years (seventh overall). Last year he was an alternate, playing one match in place of Milos Raonic.
Lopez Looks to Rebound – No. 2 seed Lopez has never won back-to-back matches in 10 previous appearances in Valencia. The 34-year-old Madrid native has a 3-10 career record, reaching the second round in 2004, ’09 and last year. Lopez, who is ranked No. 17 after reaching a career-high No. 12 in March, comes in with a 32-24 match record on the season. His best results are runner-up showings in Quito (l. to Estrella Burgos) and Kuala Lumpur (l. to Ferrer).
Teenager to Watch – Wild card Andrey Rublev, who is the youngest player in the draw at 18 (birthday last Tuesday) and youngest in the Top 200 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 179. Rublev won his first career ATP World Tour doubles final in Moscow (w/Tursunov). He has a 7-12 record in ATP World Tour level matches this season with two Top 50 wins over Spaniards No. 37 Fernando Verdasco in Barcelona and No. 32 Pablo Andujar in Davis Cup fifth and decisive match. He plays wild card Marcel Granollers, who won the 2011 title. Granollers, who has a 14-6 tournament record, also reached the final in 2010.
Bernie Eyes Top 20 – No. 1 Aussie Bernard Tomic, who reached a career-high No. 18 in the Emirates ATP Rankings last Monday, is trying to finish in the Top 20 for the first time in his young career. Tomic has posted a personal-best 39 match wins and repeated his title in Bogota (d. Mannarino). In the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, he beat No. 8 Ferrer and No. 11 Gasquet en route to the quarter-finals (l. to Djokovic).
Paire Makes Comeback – One of the leading candidates for ATP Comeback Player of the Year is Frenchman Benoit Paire, who has won titles at the Futures, Challenger and ATP World Tour level this year. Last year Paire was bothered by a left knee injury and he finished at No. 118 with his last tournament at the US Open. He has jumped to a career-high No. 23 and in July he won his maiden ATP World Tour title in Bastad, defeating the top three seeds along the way without dropping a set.
Race Movers
Marin Cilic 13 (+1 spot)
Benoit Paire 21 (+2 spots)
Roberto Bautista Agut 24 (+3 spots)
Jack Sock 29 (+3 spots)
Steve Johnson 33 (+14 spots)
Marcos Baghdatis 41 (+8 spots)
Potential Milestones
Basel – Singles
Marco Chiudinelli – 47 wins
Jerzy Janowicz – 95 wins
Ivo Karlovic – 297 wins
Lukas Rosol – 97 wins
Basel – Doubles
Marcin Matkowski – 397 wins
Daniel Nestor – 997 wins
Valencia – Singles
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – 246 wins
Santiago Giraldo – 147 wins
Valencia – Doubles
Eric Butorac – 249 wins
Mate Pavic – 47 wins
In Case You Missed It
David Ferrer improved to 5-0 in finals this year with a win over Steve Johnson in Vienna. Read
Marin Cilic defeated Roberto Bautista-Agut in a rematch of the 2014 Moscow final. Read
Tomas Berdych upended Jack Sock to claim his third Stockholm title. Read
Birthdays
26 October – Alexander Kudryavtsev (30)