Two-time champion Juan Martin del Potro returned to the Swiss Indoors Basel on Wednesday for the first time since he had beaten Roger Federer in the 2013 final. Apparently there were no hard feelings as a packed crowd in St. Jakobshalle welcomed the Argentine back with a rowdy applause. Del Potro thanked them with his 11^th consecutive win in the Swiss city, dismissing Dutch qualifier Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4.

The 6’6” right-hander converted all four break points and won nearly 60 per cent of his second-serve points in the one-hour, 22-minute contest. After beating Federer in both the 2012 and 2013 Basel finals, del Potro missed the 2014 and 2015 tournaments because of a left-wrist injury that caused him to miss almost all of those seasons.

He’s made quite the comeback this year, though. When he returned in Delray Beach in February, del Potro was No. 1,042 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He entered Basel as No. 42 and fresh off his first ATP World Tour title in more than 33 months. Del Potro won the If Stockholm Open title on Sunday (d. Sock).

“This year is very special… I’m just trying to enjoy all my matches,” del Potro said. “My wrist is OK. My biggest goal for this year is to finish healthy and then, if I’m still winning matches, that would be great.”

The 28-year-old del Potro, who received a wild card into Basel, will meet fifth seed David Goffin in the second round. The Belgian is in close contention for a spot at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Goffin is currently in 10^th place in the Emirates ATP Race To London, 190 points behind No. 9 Tomas Berdych.

Goffin needs to reach the Basel final to pass Berdych. The top eight players at the end of the season will qualify for the year-end championships, to be held 13-20 November at The O2 in London.

View the Emirates ATP Race To London

Kei Nishikori overcame a spirited effort from Italian Paolo Lorenzi to advance to the Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-finals on Wednesday 7-6(3), 6-2. Nishikori spilled 18 unforced errors in the first set as the top Italian retrieved nearly everything back to him.

But the World No. 5 cleaned up his play in the second set, reducing his unforced error tally to six to prevail in one hour and 38 minutes. The 26 year old is going for his second title of the season, having won his lone title indoors at the Memphis Open in February.

Argentine Federico Delbonis joined Nishikori in the quarter-finals by outlasting Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3. Argentine Guido Pella moved into the second round after Frenchman Richard Gasquet retired down 6-2, 2-1 36 minutes into the match. Gasquet won his second title of the season on Sunday at the inaugural European Open in Antwerp (d. Schwartzman).

Eighth seed Jack Sock also continued his strong play indoors. The 24-year-old American saved all five break points in a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. Sock made the If Stockholm Open final for the second consecutive year on Sunday (l. to del Potro).

Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov will participate in the second edition of Garanti Koza Sofia Open. Thiem is currently No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He has won four ATP World Tour tournaments this season and made the semi-finals of Roland Garros in Paris. The 23-year-old Austrian has shown great talent and impressed with his one-handed backhand.

“I am waiting impatiently to play in Sofia. I know it is a beautiful city and there will be great tennis fans. [This year] has been perfect for me, and I hope I will go on the same way in 2017. Sofia Open is a really important tournament, and I hope I will be able to show my best tennis there,” said Thiem.

Go Behind The Scenes With Thiem In Vienna

Dimitrov, Bulgaria’s No. 1, found his way back to the Top 20 this season. He played well in Asia and made the semi-finals of the If Stockholm Open before losing to Juan Martin del Potro. Dimitrov also reached the Beijing final (l. to Murray) and beat Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic and Lucas Pouille along the way. The former World No. 8 reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2014.

“It is a great pleasure to me to take part in the Garanti Koza Sofia Open in February. It will be an honour for me to play in my country and to share my excitement with world tennis. We will have the chance to enjoy tennis of the highest level in Sofia. See you soon!” said Dimitrov.

Paul McNamee, the former tournament director of the Australian Open and Hopman Cup, will take the duty of the Garanti Koza Sofia Open tournament director. He said, “Thiem and Dimitrov are the future of world men’s tennis. We are excited that they will show their great talent in Sofia. It is always exciting for the fans when one of the tournament stars is a local guy.”

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