What Roger Federer said after winning his 103rd and final ATP title at the 2019 Basel Open

Playing on home soil, Federer was unsurprisingly left emotional following the success, which arrived via a 6-2, 6-2 win over De Minaur. It was the first and only meeting between the two players, with the Swiss legend retiring from tennis a few years later.

Federer praised the Australian immediately after that indoor, hard court battle, where the fans were heavily backing the home favourite. He also did his best to analyse his display, which helped him secure a fourth title of the year.

Roger Federer delighted after winning 10th Basel Open title in 2019

Speaking on court right after clinching the title, the 2019 Basel champion said: “It was fast but very nice. I think I played a great match. It was a tough opener, in the beginning, the first five games, we had some great rallies. I sort of never looked back honestly.

“I was great on the offence, made very few unforced errors and came up with the big shots and served well when I had to. That was good. I thought Alex played a great tournament as well, and I think we both can be very happy. But what a moment for me to win my 10th here in my hometown of Basel.”

Federer did not drop a single set en route to his 10th title in Basel, although the Swiss ace did receive a walkover in the quarterfinals after his compatriot Stan Wawrinka withdrew because of a back injury. Wawrinka will retire from tennis in Basel this time around, with the veteran starting his farewell against Jiri Lehecka.

Novak Djokovic can equal Roger Federer at the Basel Open

Of course, Federer won’t be making an appearance at his home tournament this week, and neither will De Minaur. Instead, the Australian is taking on the Vienna Open in Austria, where he starts out against Tomas Machac.

But Federer’s old nemesis Novak Djokovic is playing in Basel, having accepted a wildcard to feature at the ATP 500 event. And should he go all the way, the Serbian would match his former rival’s ATP title tally. Djokovic won the China Open earlier this month for his 102nd career title, one short of Federer, incidentally beating De Minaur in the final.

But that will be of little significance right now to Djokovic, who instead will be focusing on qualification for the ATP Finals, for which three of the eight places have already been secured. The veteran currently occupies 11th place in the Race to Turin, although one spot has been freed up by Jannik Sinner ending his season due to injury. Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton have secured the first spots.

Add to Preferred Sources