Roger Federer is back in the winner’s circle. Federer won his hometown tournament the Swiss Indoor Basel. It took him nearly 10 months to win another title. Federer’s last title came back in Janaury in Doha at the very beginning of the tennis season. Roger Federer has only two titles to his name this year. It is the least amount of titles for him since he broke on tour. Another interesting fact is this win was Federer first title after dropping to number four in the ATP World Rankings. The last time he won a title without being ranked in the top three was in 2003, at which time he won his first of five Wimbledon Championships in a row. Federer has already qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals in London with his performances this year.
Federer headed into the stretch run of the season in the same position he was in last year. The only difference was that he had won a major tournament last season. For the first time since 2002, Federer did not have a major title to his name. Federer’s goals for the indoor portion of the ATP season were to finish strong and to have a good performance at the Swiss Indoor Basel, PNB Paribas Masters, and the ATP World Tour Finals. If Federer plays as well as he did in Basel, he will go far in Paris and London. However, Federer has not performed that well at the PNB Paribas Masters in Paris. His best result came last year, when he lost to Gael Monfils in the semifinals. The next best step for Federer is to win this tournament. The PNB Paribas Masters,
Monte-Carlo Masters, Rome Masters, and Shanghai Masters are the only ATP Masters 1000 events Federer has not won.
Federer played a complete game against Kei Nishikori in the finals of the Swiss Indoor event. Nishikori defeated Navk Djokovic in the semifinals of the event. Federer has now won five of the last six titles in Basel. He always wants to do well at his hometown event, where he used to be a ball boy. Federer played great flawless tennis throughout the tournament and he will look to continue that play into this week’s tournament. Federer had confidence coming into the event because he played in the Davis Cup for Switzerland. He won both of his singles matches to propel Switzerland into the World Group of Davis Cup. Davis Cup was the perfect remedy for Federer who for the second time at a major blew a two set to none lead. Even though Federer is older and his game may not be as good as it once was, the only factor that can stop Federer besides another opponent is his focus.
Federer’s game has come into question as of late, but his fitness and longevity has not. The Paris Masters will be contested over this week. Rafael Nadal will not compete in the tournament and there are questions about Navk Djokvoic’s fitness. But are we to question Djokovic’s fitness or his desire to win anymore. Djokovic has won three majors this year and numerous other tournaments. For Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, and Murray, the big prize is the ATP World Tour Finals Trophy. Right now, Federer and Murray are looking the best and could make noise, but more of that to come later.