Top seed Roger Federer was made to dig deep in the Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-finals, battling past French veteran Gilles Simon 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-4 on Friday.

“Sure, Gilles came back. But I found a way, which was most important, so I’m really happy now,” said Federer, who is into his 200th tour-level semi-final. “It was always going to be at times a frustrating match, because you’re always going to hit winners and errors against Gilles because he puts so many balls in play.”

The 37-year-old has now reached the semi-finals at his hometown tournament in 12 consecutive appearances. The Swiss is 15-1 in Basel quarter-finals, with his only loss at this stage of the event coming 19 years ago against then-World No. 6 Tim Henman. Federer was just 18 years old.

The eight-time champion and 13-time finalist has now won 18 consecutive matches at the ATP World Tour 500-level event, where he is pursuing his 99th career tour-level trophy. If Federer goes on to triumph this week, he’ll earn his fourth title of the season, finishing in the winners’ circle that many times in a year for the 14th time.

And while Federer got through after two hours and 34 minutes, it was anything but easy for the Swiss.

Simon has shown good form this year, winning titles in Pune and Metz. And the Frenchman showed it against Federer, keeping the home favourite from gaining any rhythm, especially off his dangerous forehand side. Simon served for the opening set, and then held a set point on the eight-time champion’s serve while leading 6-5. But Federer, who made a slew of unforced errors off the forehand wing early, reduced his mistakes to cruise through the ensuing tie-break.

But the Frenchman maintained his focus, mixing up his paces well in the second set to continue frustrating the Swiss, forcing a decider. But despite coughing up an early break in the third set, Federer stayed the course and advanced, despite getting broken five times, when Simon missed a two-handed backhand long. Federer has now won seven consecutive FedEx ATP Head2Head matches against Simon, leading their rivalry 7-2.

“I really enjoyed it. I think I also showed emotions, I was trying to pump myself up,” Federer said. “It’s an absolute pleasure playing on home soil with the crowd supporting me so much. I think they felt like I was in danger, and it was nice that they were there every step of the way.”

Federer will next face Russian Daniil Medvedev, who beat #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. It will be a re-match of the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, which took place earlier this month at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where Federer won in three sets.

Medvedev now leads the ATP World Tour with 37 hard-court match wins in 2018, breaking a tie with Argentine Juan Martin del Potro. Tied for third on the list are Kevin Anderson and Federer, with 30 wins apiece on the surface.

Medvedev is playing his best tennis, recently claiming his maiden ATP World Tour 500-level trophy at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018 in Tokyo, which was his third trophy of the season (also Sydney and Winston-Salem). The 22-year-old cracked the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time this week at No. 20.

“I think it’s going to be a tough semi. I’m very excited, apparently it’s my 200th semi-final on the Tour,” Federer said. “It’s something I’m very excited about, that it also happened here in Basel.”

Watch Highlights Of Federer’s Win In Shanghai Against Medvedev

Alexander Zverev continues to build momentum with less than two weeks to go until the Nitto ATP Finals, defeating Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 6-3 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Before the recent Rolex Shanghai Masters, Zverev failed to reach the semi-finals in four consecutive tournaments. But since arriving in Shanghai, the 21-year-old has won six of seven matches, with all six of those victories coming in straight sets. The second seed leads the ATP World Tour with 52 match wins this season.

The World No. 5 is trying to win his 10th ATP World Tour title, and his fourth of the season. No German has triumphed in Basel since 1994, when Michael Stich lifted the trophy. In the tournament’s history, since 1975, only one other German has emerged victorious at the event: Boris Becker in 1993.

Zverev and Bautista Agut battled it out from the back of the court throughout the match, with both players attempting to hold their ground on the baseline. The Spaniard did well to keep Zverev from controlling points with his flat, penetrating groundstrokes. But the German had too much weight of shot, and his weapons — especially his two-handed backhand — were ultimately too strong for the eighth seed.

Zverev, whose lone previous appearance in Basel came four years ago, now leads Bautista Agut 4-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. He has won eight of his past nine sets against the Spaniard.

In the next round, Zverev will face Romanian Marius Copil, who ousted #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz 7-6(6), 7-5. The qualifier, who has not lost a set in qualifying or the main draw, advanced to his first ATP World Tour semi-final and final earlier this season in Sofia, ultimately losing to Mirza Basic in the championship match.

Copil is currently No. 93 in the ATP Rankings, but he also defeated London hopeful and third seed Marin Cilic in the second round. Against Fritz, Copil struck 18 aces and saved 10 of the 11 break points he faced to advance after one hour and 52 minutes.

For the first time in men’s professional tennis, Video Review will be used by officials at the Next Gen ATP Finals, the ATP’s ground-breaking season-ending event for the world’s best 21-and-under players, set to take place in Milan, Italy, from 6-10 November.

The Video Review, delivered using advanced Hawk-Eye technology, will provide opportunities for players to challenge any judgement calls from the Chair Umpire such as Not-Ups, Foul Shots, Touches, or Invasion*. The incorporation of Video Review in Milan represents the latest innovation by the ATP at its bold and ambitious season-ending event for the best 21-and-under players in men’s professional tennis.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at the Next Gen ATP Finals, and we’re looking towards the future in all aspects of this tournament. Adding Video Review will give players a new tool that will further enhance the officiating in our sport. The Next Gen ATP Finals continue to position the ATP at the forefront of innovation in tennis as we also look to deliver on our mission to provide a global stage for the future stars of the ATP World Tour.”

Gayle David Bradshaw, Executive Vice President, ATP Rules & Competition, said: “Controversy with these types of decisions are rare but when they do occur they can be particularly unsettling for players. We do not expect a lot of challenges, but should any instances arise, this technology will ensure the correct decision is reached.”

The Hawk-Eye technology behind the Video Review will use video feeds from all television cameras so that the Video Review operator can quickly search footage to find the correct angle for the decision to be made. The relevant footage will be sent to the Chair Umpire’s tablet who will review the video and decide whether to uphold or overturn the original call. All relevant footage will be played out to the in-house spectators on large video boards in real time, as well as on broadcast, to take the audience even closer to the action. There will be no limit to the number of Video Review challenges a player is able to make.

Future use of Video Review could include decisions on whether to award the point or replay the point in the case of a corrected out to good call by an official. In Milan, however, such instances will not arise as all calls made by Hawk-Eye Live are final.

Peter Irwin, Hawk-Eye Innovations Solutions Director, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the ATP on this ground-breaking introduction of Video Review into professional tennis. Having had years of experience providing our SMART Replay technology for officiating purposes in many other sports, we firmly believe it can bring huge benefits to tennis. Tennis fans are used to Hawk-Eye’s ball tracking technology being used to decide if a ball is in or out, but Video Review will work alongside this to assist officials make the correct decision on other judgement calls. With Hawk-Eye Live again being used in Milan to call the lines live, the use of Video Review to help adjudicate on all other decisions means the players at this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals will get the highest level of officiating they’ve ever had.”

The 2018 tournament will continue with many of the innovations trialed at the inaugural event, with the addition of the Video Review, a further reduced warm-up (4 minutes), as well as the incorporation a towel rack at the back of the court which will remove the onus on all ball kids to handle player towels.

The 2017 edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals, held in partnership with the Italian Tennis Federation and the Italian National Olympic Committee, was one of the boldest integrated presentations of innovation in sport to date. The tournament, which is set to stay in Milan through to 2021, comes at a key time when innovation is being widely considered across the highest levels of the sport. The success of the inaugural tournament was recognized at the Yahoo Sports Technology Awards in London, where ATP & ATP Media won the Most Innovative Governing Body or Rights Holder Award, as well as at the Leaders Sports Awards, where the tournament was recognized with the award for Best Innovation.

Notes to Editors:

*Examples of incidents that would be subject to Video Review at the Next Gen ATP Finals are:

• Not-Ups – double bounces
• Foul Shots – for example, deliberate double hits or carry; or hitting the ball before it has passed the net; the ball, prior to bouncing, hits a permanent fixture; or the racquet is not in the player’s hand when touched by the ball.
• Touches – ball skimming racquet, clothing or body; or if a player, or anything he is wearing or carrying, touches the net, net posts/singles sticks while the ball is still in play.
• Invasion – player, or anything he is wearing or carrying, touches the opponent’s side of the court while the ball is in play.

Spain’s #NextGenATP star Jaume Munar became on Thursday the final direct qualifier for the Next Gen ATP Finals. The 21-year-old’s direct qualification leaves only one place up for grabs at the eight-player tournament, to be held from 6-10 November in Milan. The final spot will be given to the winner of an Italian 21-and-under tournament to be finished on 4 November.

Munar joins Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece; Canadian Denis Shapovalov; Australia’s Alex de Minaur; Americans Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz; and Andrey Rublev of Russia, who have all already qualified for the event, which will again feature a series of rule changes and innovations. Germany qualifier Alexander Zverev will not compete because of his Nitto ATP Finals participation at The O2 in London from 11-18 November.

Tsitsipas has been among the brightest breakout #NextGenATP stars in 2018, reaching three ATP World Tour finals and becoming the first Greek to win an ATP World Tour title at last week’s Intrum Stockholm Open. The Athens native also reached the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell final (l. to Nadal). As a 19-year-old in Toronto, Tsitsipas became the youngest player in ATP World Tour history to beat four Top 10 players at an event, overcoming Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson, prior to falling to Rafael Nadal in the final.

Watch: Tsitsipas In Focus

Shapovalov has backed up his breakthrough 2017 campaign by making three semi-finals. The Canadian became the youngest semi-finalist in the history of the Mutua Madrid Open. The 19-year-old also made the last four at the Delray Beach Open and at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018 in Tokyo.

Few players of any age have climbed up the ATP Rankings this season as much as De Minaur. In December, the Aussie was No. 210 and this week he competes at a career-high No. 31. The 19-year-old, who is mentored by former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, has reached two ATP World Tour finals this season, at the Sydney International in January and the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., in August.

Tiafoe and Fritz are leading the Next Generation of U.S. talent, and both have shown their potential in 2018. Tiafoe won his first ATP World Tour title at the Delray Beach Open in February, beating Juan Martin del Potro, 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung and Shapovalov en route. Tiafoe also made his first clay-court final at the Millennium Estoril Open (l. to Sousa).

Watch: Tiafoe Qualifies For The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals

Fritz, meanwhile, has delivered on the early promise that saw him contest the 2016 Memphis Open final in only his third tour-level event (l. to Nishikori). This year, the 20-year-old reached two semi-finals (Houston, Chengdu) and his first fourth round at a Masters 1000 tournament (BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells).

Moscow native Rublev will make his second consecutive appearance in Milan. Last year, the Russian fell to Chung in the title match after leading by a set and 3-1. The 21-year-old Rublev had to miss three months of 2018 because of a stress fracture in his lower back, but he still made his second ATP World Tour final (Doha, l. to Monfils) and the semi-finals in Washington, D.C. (l. to De Minaur).

Watch Flashback: At Home With Rublev In Moscow

The award-winning Next Gen ATP Finals will continue to trial a best-of-five set format, shorter sets to four (tie-break at three-all), no-ad scoring, and no lets. Other innovations, such as Electronic Line Calling through Hawk-Eye Live, a 25-second shot clock, in-match player coaching via head-sets, will also be back for this year’s edition. The player warm-up will be reduced by a further minute (from five minutes to four minutes) from the second player walk-on, while players will be instructed to use a towel rack at the back of the court to remove the onus on ball kids to handle towels.

Free crowd movement in the stadium and a limit of one medical time out per match will also remain. The tournament’s leading role in innovation comes at a key time when changes are being widely considered across the highest levels of the sport.

The technological advances used across the 2017 tournament were recognised earlier this year at the Yahoo Sports Technology Awards in London, where ATP & ATP Media won the Most Innovative Governing Body or Rights Holder Award. At the recent inaugural Leaders Sports Awards in London, the Next Gen ATP Finals won the Innovation category for the ATP and ATP Media’s live-streaming platform, Tennis TV, won the On Screen Experience category.

Roger Federer had to hurtle another slow start on Thursday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, but the eight-time champion pulled it together quickly to reach another quarter-final in his hometown. The top-seeded Swiss stayed unbeaten (4-0) against German Jan-Lennard Struff, dismissing the 6’5” right-hander for the third time this year 6-3, 7-5.

Federer stretched his Basel winning streak to 17 and is two matches away from reaching his 14^th final and his 12^th in as many appearances. The 37-year-old was broken in the third game when he overplayed a forehand, and Struff, who was holding with ease behind 224 km/h serves, pushed his lead to 3-1 before Federer settled to take five straight games and the set behind the home faithful.

The 28-year-old Struff composed himself in the second, but serving at 40/40, 5-5, he threw in a pair of loose errors, including a double fault on break point. Federer, who’s already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 11-18 November, will next meet Frenchman Gilles Simon or last week’s Intrum Stockholm Open finalist Ernests Gulbis.