Roger Federer made it clear on Saturday that he wants to pick up a 10th title at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The top-seeded Swiss booked his place in the final with a sterling 6-4, 6-4 performance against third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“It was nice to come out strong. It was a really intense 35 or 40 minutes to start. I had a good middle section which gave me the first set and the lead in the second set, and never looked back,” Federer said. “It’s hard to believe that I’m in another Basel final. It’s super exciting.”

Federer added to his staggering numbers in Basel by reaching his 13th consecutive final and 15th overall. He moved to 74-9 at this event and has won his past 23 matches on centre court. The 38-year-old is through to his sixth ATP Tour final of the season, second only to Daniil Medvedev (9), and picked up his 50th tour-level win of the year. 

“Even if I’m up a set and a break, the [crowd] are not just there when I’m down in the score and feel like I need it,” Federer said. “They enjoy when I’m playing good tennis and it pushes me to play even better, keep on trying every point and try to make something happen. That’s what you do with a home court advantage.”

Awaiting him in the championship match is #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur, who defeated American Reilly Opelka earlier in the day. Federer will have experience on his side when they meet for the first time on Sunday. The Swiss is competing in his 157th ATP Tour final (102-54), compared to six for De Minaur (3-2).

Federer was 0-12 on break points during his loss to Tsitsipas at this year’s Australian Open and couldn’t convert his first five in their latest clash. But with Tsitsipas serving at 2-2 in the first set, Federer let out a roar of approval after getting over the line with a strong forehand approach.

The Swiss looked to move forward whenever possible and was nearly flawless when he did, winning 9 of 10 net points in the opening set. Serving for the set at 5-4, he fired three aces and a delicate drop volley winner to grab the early advantage.

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Tsitsipas was left to ruminate over hitting more winners than unforced errors (11 to 9), yet still coming up short. The Greek felt the pressure in the second set, hitting a double fault and a pair of wild baseline errors in the opening game to give Federer two break points. The top seed converted on his second with a forehand winner and jogged to his chair.

Federer’s outstanding serving led to little resistance from Tsitsipas, with the Swiss dropping just eight points in his first nine service games. The third seed earned his first break point with Federer serving for the match at 5-4, but played it tentatively and pushed a forehand long. Two points later, a swinging forehand volley winner closed out play after 79 minutes. Federer finished the day with 28 winners to 11 unforced errors.

Despite the loss, Tsitsipas can be pleased with another strong week. He’s prevailed in 10 of his past 13 matches and reached at least the semi-finals at his past three ATP Tour events.

Reilly Opelka added another milestone to his breakout year on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, reaching 1,000 aces in a season for the first time during his semi-final against Alex de Minaur.

The 22-year-old had 988 aces going into the match and hit an additional 26 on the day, becoming the eighth player (since stats began being recorded in 1991) to hit the 1,000 ace mark. Opelka has averaged 21 aces per match this season.

His strong week in Basel also pushed him past John Isner in this season’s ace tally (1,014 to 1,007). But with Opelka not competing in next week’s Rolex Paris Masters, a strong serving day from Isner in Paris will likely see him finish on top for the fourth year in a row.

More than 15 per cent of Opelka’s aces this year came during his maiden ATP Tour title run at the New York Open. The American finished that week with 156 aces, including 43 in the championship match against Brayden Schnur. He landed 72 per cent of his first-serves (312 of 436), won 88 per cent of his first-serve points (276 of 312) and closed out the week with 68 consecutive service holds.

Opelka started this year at No. 99 in the ATP Rankings, but is projected to crack the Top 35 for the first time when the newest standings are released on Monday.

In his 10th straight appearance at the Erste Bank Open, Dominic Thiem reached his first final in Vienna on Saturday with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win against Matteo Berrettini.

In front of a packed crowd at the Wiener Stadthalle, the home favourite once again found his best level in crucial moments to advance after two hours and 33 minutes. Thiem is the first Austrian to reach the championship match at this ATP 500 event since Jurgen Melzer defeated Andreas Haider-Maurer in the all-Austrian 2010 championship match.

“I never experienced such a great atmosphere here,” said Thiem. “It was full from the first point on. Such a loud atmosphere as well. It was perfect to play in and the match was on a very high level from the first to the last point… With all the support and home advantage, I was able to pull through.”

Thiem, who broke Berrettini on five occasions, improves to 8-0 in Austria this year. The World No. 5 lifted his maiden title on home soil at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel without dropping a set in August.

The Austrian will face Diego Schwartzman or Gael Monfils in the championship match. Thiem leads Schwartzman 4-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and is unbeaten in five matches against Monfils.

“I am very confident now,” said Thiem. “It was a tough match mentally and physically but it was not too late. There is going to be an amazing energy again tomorrow, so I am really looking forward to that. It was a big dream from the first time I came here when I was five or six years old to be there on Sunday and tomorrow is that day. I am going to be very ready.”

Among players who have contested 10 or more deciding sets this season, Thiem leads the ATP Tour with an 11-2 record. The 26-year-old’s comeback win also snaps Berrettini’s streak of 28 straight victories after winning the first set.

Berrettini made a fast start on Center Court, dictating with his forehand and capitalising on uncharacteristic errors from Thiem to establish a 2-1 lead. Despite dropping serve at 3-2, Berrettini maintained his attacking game plan. The Italian ran around his backhand and charged the net to claim two further service breaks and the opening set.

Returning from a deep position behind the baseline, Thiem attacked Berrettini’s backhand to claim the first break of the second set. Despite the Italian ripping a series of powerful returns to level the score at 4-4, Thiem managed to extend rallies and impose his game to break once more for a 6-5 lead. Thiem forced a decider with his second set point, ripping a forehand up the line to raise the roof at the Wiener Stadthalle.

After a competitive opening six games in the decider, Thiem claimed three straight games to reach his 24th tour-level championship match (15-8). The two-time Roland Garros finalist turned the tables on his opponent, overpowering Berrettini with his forehand to make the crucial break. Two games later, Thiem broke for a fifth time with a backhand up the line to claim victory.

Berrettini was aiming to boost his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. The Italian currently occupies the eighth and final qualification position for the elite eight-man event with 2,660 points.

Did You Know?
Since the beginning of the 2016 ATP Tour season, Dominic Thiem has reached 20 finals. Only Novak Djokovic (25), Rafael Nadal (23) and Roger Federer (21) have reached more championship matches in the same period. Federer will aim to reach his 22nd when he faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Swiss Indoors Basel semi-finals today.

#NextGenATP Aussie star Alex de Minaur reached his fourth ATP Tour final of the year on Saturday, eliminating American Reilly Opelka 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 7-6(3) after two hours and 34 minutes to reach the championship match of the Swiss Indoors Basel. The wild card will try to claim his fourth title of the season against nine-time Basel champion Roger Federer or third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“I can’t wait. It’s my first time here in Basel and it’s been a hell of an experience,” De Minaur said. “I’ve got my friends with me, so it’s a little bit different and it’s been paying off. I’m really looking forward to coming out tomorrow and having some fun.”

De Minaur now leads the big-serving Opelka 4-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with all four of their matches coming in 2019. The 20-year-old is the first Aussie to reach the Basel final since Mark Philippoussis finished runner-up in 1997. No Australian man has won this tournament since its inception in 1970.

Although Opelka blasted 26 aces to surpass the 1,000-ace milestone this year and pass John Isner for the ATP Tour-lead with 1,014 aces in 2019, De Minaur’s consistency proved too difficult to overcome. The Aussie made zero unforced errors in the second and third sets, putting constant pressure on the American to hit clean winners, which led to errors off of his racquet in crucial moments.

“Probably the most important thing is not to get frustrated. You’ve got to know that he’s going to serve at least 40, 50 aces against you,” De Minaur said. “The way I like to look at things is I guess one way and commit to that way and if I guess right, make sure I make the return, don’t waste that opportunity.”

It’s been a strong three months for De Minaur, who earlier in the year struggled with a groin injury. He missed nearly two months after the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, and then lost seven of 10 matches upon his return. But De Minaur has bounced back in a major way, winning titles in Atlanta and Zhuhai before his deep run this week in Basel.

The two-time Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier will try to capture his first ATP 500 title from his second final at this level. Last year, he fell short against Alexander Zverev at the Citi Open.

De Minaur let slip a break in the first set, with Opelka rallying to force a tie-break. But the Aussie was too consistently solid, winning his first two return points of the tie-break to help him earn a 6/1 lead. At 6/2, Opelka blasted an approach shot down the middle to try to jam De Minaur, but the World No. 28 showed incredible reaction speed, finding a way to not only get his racquet on the ball, but to place a lob over the head of 6’11” Opelka.

There were no breaks of serve in the second set, and this time it was Opelka who got off to a strong start in the tie-break. The tall American showed his range with a cross-court backhand passing shot that even a diving De Minaur could not reach. Another mini-break made it seem this semi-final was on its way to a deciding set.

But De Minaur recouped both mini breaks and hit a big serve to recover from 1/4 to 4/4. Opelka quickly regrouped, though, using another critical backhand pass to help push the match to a third set.

“I knew coming in this was the match to expect. In the second set I did everything right, he just came up with two very big points, very big backhand passes on crucial points,” De Minaur said. “I knew I just had to say, ’Too good’, and get ready for another third set and hopefully take care of my serve and come the tie-break, guess right a couple times and make a couple of returns.” 

In their only previous match that went to a deciding set, earlier this year in Atlanta, De Minaur found his range off the return to earn a break and ride his serve to victory. But this time, Opelka forced the 15th all tie-break match of 2019 — and his fourth of the year. The American was unable to capitalise on looks at the Aussie’s second serve, making mistakes early in the tie-break, and that allowed De Minaur to triumph, blasting a final big serve of the day to force an error, pointing to his camp with a massive smile in celebration.

De Minaur hit 14 aces himself, but he won a higher percentage of service points than Opelka, 80 per cent to 70 per cent.

Did You Know?
De Minaur is now 7-0 in tour-level semi-finals and finals in 2019.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut will attempt to go one better than last year’s runner-up finish at the Nitto ATP Finals, having secured their team berth at The O2 for the fifth successive year.

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The Frenchmen, who have compiled a 5-8 record at the prestigious season finale in London, became the eighth team in tennis history to complete the career Grand Slam with their first Australian Open title in January.

Herbert and Mahut qualified in accordance to the Grand Slam rule, after Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies clinched their spot at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Individually in 2019, Herbert lifted the Qatar ExxonMobil Open trophy with David Goffin in January, while Mahut won the recent Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships title with Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Mahut and Roger-Vasselin also finished as runners up at Wimbledon and the Moselle Open.

Only three spots in the doubles draw at The O2 remain, with Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah, Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo and Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus having already qualified.

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. They are the fourth team to clinch their spot at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November.

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Just two weeks on from winning the Heilbronn crown on the ATP Challenger Tour, Krawietz and Mies captured their first Grand Slam championship title at Roland Garros in Paris.

The pair also clinched two ATP 250 titles at the New York Open (d. Gonzalez/Qureshi) in February and at last week’s European Open in Antwerp (d. Ram/Salisbury).

As a result of Krawietz and Mies’ qualification, Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, winners of the Australian Open in January, also secured their spot in London per the Grand Slam rule.

Only three spots remain in the Nitto ATP Finals doubles field, with Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah, Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo and Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus having already qualified.

The ATP Tour is experiencing baby fever this month! Mike Bryan is the latest player to share news on a growing family by announcing that he and girlfriend Nadia Murgasova are expecting their first child.

“IT’S A BOY!”, he wrote to his Instagram followers on Friday. The announcement included a photo of the couple hugging as blue balloons float around them. Jeremy Chardy, Bruno Soares and Jack Sock were among the players to congratulate him on social media. His twin brother and doubles partner, Bob Bryan, has three children.

Other baby news this month included Marin Cilic posting a photo of himself shopping for his first child that’s due next year, while Sam Querrey shared his own baby announcement last Sunday. John Isner revealed the arrival of a baby boy with wife Madison on 20 October, while Kevin Anderson tweeted that he and wife Kelsey welcomed a baby girl on 27 September.

The Bryan brothers have not competed since the US Open, but are on track for a record 16th team appearance in the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, held from 10-17 November at The O2 in London. They are currently fifth in the ATP Doubles Race to London with 3,380 points.

Stefanos Tsitsipas dug deep to produce some of his best tennis on Friday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The third-seeded Greek weathered an inspired start from Serbian Filip Krajinovic to prevail 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in their quarter-final clash.

Tsitsipas finished the night with 38 winners to just 26 unforced errors. The 21-year-old has won 10 of his past 12 matches, finishing runner-up in Beijing (l. to Thiem) and defeating Novak Djokovic en route to a semi-final showing at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Awaiting him in the semi-finals is top seed and nine-time Basel champion Roger Federer, who advanced when fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka withdrew due to a back injury. The pair are tied 1-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry, with Tsitsipas prevailing at the Australian Open and Federer getting revenge in the Dubai final.

Krajinovic, runner-up last week in Stockholm (l. to Shapovalov), continued his strong form indoors in the opening set. He broke Tsitsipas twice, was flawless on net points (6/6) and only gave the Greek three unforced errors. Krajinovic let out a roar after Tsitsipas sent a forehand wide to give the Serbian an early advantage after 33 minutes.

Tsitsipas adjusted his tactics in the second set, standing further behind the baseline and adding more height to his shots in a bid to prolong the rallies. The strategy worked as Krajinovic began to leak errors from his forehand. The third seed broke serve at 1-1 in the second set and held the slight advantage, rifling a forehand winner on set point to bring the match to a decider.

Both men traded service breaks to start the final set, but Krajinovic began to feel the effects of playing eight matches over the past 10 days. Tsitsipas noticed the Serbian starting to tire and pounced, earning another break at 3-3 as he rode the momentum to victory after one hour and 53 minutes.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, the top two players in the ATP Rankings, return to action at next week’s Rolex Paris Masters. It is a critical moment in the battle for the year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking, with two very different narratives potentially to be written based on results from the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 tournament of 2019.

Nadal controls his own destiny and could clinch year-end No. 1 with a title. However, if he lifts his fifth trophy in Bercy, Djokovic can claw closer to the Spaniard and put himself in prime position to sneak out the season-ending top spot at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Nadal currently has the edge with a 1,280-point lead in the ATP Race To London — which acts as a barometer for who will finish year-end No. 1 — over the Serbian. But with 1,000 points up for grabs in Paris and a maximum of 1,500 available at the Nitto ATP Finals,is very much alive.

Nadal, if he triumphs at the Rolex Paris Masters for the first time, could put the battle out of reach, guaranteeing that he will finish year-end No. 1 for the fifth time, joining Djokovic, Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors at that mark. If Nadal triumphs in Paris, an undefeated run by Djokovic at The O2 would still not be enough to see the Serb finish in top spot.

But if Djokovic captures his 34th ATP Masters 1000 title, he will put plenty of pressure on Nadal heading into the season finale in London from 10-17 November. Although Nadal, the all-time Masters 1000 title leader (35) has not lost his opener at this level since 2016 Shanghai, doing so would allow Djokovic to pull within 280 points in the Race with a trophy.

A sixth year-end No. 1 finish for Djokovic would be historic, as he’d equal Pete Sampras’ all-time record for most year-end finishes atop the ATP Rankings. He could potentially face his Shanghai conqueror Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals. Daniil Medvedev, who has lifted the past two Masters 1000 trophies, is also in his half of the draw.

This will be Nadal’s first tournament since his US Open win, and he will face tricky Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or a qualifier/special exempt in his opener. Federer is in his half of the draw. Nadal has not made the final of this event since 2007.

Regardless of how Djokovic and Nadal perform in Paris, Nadal will arrive at The O2 as the new World No. 1. Although Djokovic currently owns a 320-point lead in the ATP Rankings, Nadal will reclaim the title on 4 November when the Serbian drops 600 points from his runner-up finish in Paris last year and an additional 1,000 points from reaching the championship match of last year’s Nitto ATP Finals.

No other player is in contention for year-end No. 1.