Ruthless Roger Rolls Into 13th Basel Final

Pace, precision and poise. Roger Federer was at his ruthless best on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, turning in a vintage performance to reach the final once again on home soil.

The Swiss exhibited a display of stunning aggression against third seed David Goffin, barely putting a wrong foot throughout their 60-minute semi-final encounter. He would blitz the Belgian 6-1, 6-2, firing 20 winners in total, including 12 on his forehand wing and will face Juan Martin del Potro in the final.

“I’m ready for a difficult match and a fully fit del Potro,” said Federer. “He played a great match against me in Shanghai and went on to win Stockholm and won that. Now he’s here in the final again. I think he’s ok. He might be tired, but he doesn’t have issues that would keep him away from the court.”

Federer stood tall on the baseline and refused to allow Goffin to find any rhythm, firing his forehand with alacrity and using his first serve to send a message under the lights at the St. Jakobshalle.

The Swiss would take the opener 6-1 – the third time he has done so this week – with a winner off a forehand approach, and he immediately pounced as the second set got underway. A hyper-aggressive Federer forced a forehand error from Goffin, stealing a break in the first game. He would claim an insurance break with an overhead smash for 5-2 and closed out the victory a game later.

Federer captured 91 per cent (21 of 23) of points on his first serve during the one-hour affair, improving to 11-1 against fellow Top 10 opponents this year. In dropping just three games, it marks his most dominant victory over a Top 10 player since defeating Andy Murray 6-0, 6-1 at the 2014 Nitto ATP Finals.

Seeking an unprecedented eighth Basel crown, Federer will next face longtime rival del Potro on Sunday. He leads the FedEx ATP Head2Head series 17-6, with their two most recent meetings lighting up the highlight reel. Del Potro prevailed in four sets in the US Open quarter-finals, with Federer exacting revenge earlier this month at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Federer will feature in his seventh final of the season, looking to extend a 6-1 record. He is riding a nine-match win streak since falling to del Potro in New York, coming off a second title run in Shanghai.

The World No. 2 is still in contention for the year-end No. 1 position. He trails Rafael Nadal by 1,660 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London and would need to win the title in Basel and also lift the trophy at both the Rolex Paris Masters and Nitto ATP Finals.

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Dodig/Granollers To Face Frenchmen In Doubles Final
Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers completed a 7-5, 6-3 semi-final win over American duo Nicholas Monroe and Jack Sock. The Croatian-Spanish pair are into their third final of the season and will look to add a second title (Rotterdam). Granollers won the Basel crown with Sock last year.

They will face Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, after the Frenchmen rallied past Marcus Daniell and Dominic Inglot 3-6, 6-3, 13/11, saving two match points. It is their first final as a team.