17 Wins in a Row for Fed in Basel

Roger Federer came through his second round match against Jan-Lennard Struff yesterday to set up a quarterfinal match with Gilles Simon of France.

Roger Federer by Carine06 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Federer started slowly, losing his serve to go down a break early in the first set, but recovered to take 5 straight games to take the first set 6-3. 6ft 5inch Struff would not go away without a fight though and pushed Federer all the way before succumbing 6-3 7-5. The win clinched Federer’s 17th victory in a row in Basel, a number that could rise to 20 if he wins this year’s tournament.

Federer will now play world number 32, Simon, who reached the quarterfinal courtesy of a 7-6 7-6 victory over last week’s Stockholm Open finalist, Ernest Gulbis. Former top 10 player Simon used to boast an extremely impressive record against Federer, having won their first two encounters back in 2008, but since then it has been all Federer, who’s won the last six meetings between the two men.

Whoever progresses from this match will go on to face the winner of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals. 20-year-old Tsitsipas, who breezed through his second round match with Peter Gojowczyk, will be eyeing up a statement match against Federer as another opportunity to showcase his emerging talents, however, he faces a difficult challenge against 22-year-old Medvedev.

Whatever happens in these two quarterfinals we are guaranteed a semifinal matchup that pits youth against experience, but we would dearly love to see Greek sensation Tsitsipas taking on the legend Roger Federer.

With some big names losing early in the bottom half, the star attraction left in this half is young German Alexander Zverev. The 21-year-old beat Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-4 in the second round, and with number 3 seed Cilic out of the tournament, he looks favorite to progress to the final.

He still has a great deal of work to do, however, and he will first have to overcome Spanish 8th seed Roberto Bautista Agut. Bautista Agut is an extremely steady player, and Zverev will have to be on form if he is to avoid any slip-ups.

Should Zverev claim victory against Bautista Agut he would face the winner of 57th ranked Taylor Fritz and 93rd ranked Marius Copil in the semi-finals, so he will be licking his lips at the opportunity of making another final.

The Fritz vs Copil game should be an enthralling encounter with both eager to maximize their opportunity to climb up the rankings. Copil has claimed eye-catching victories over Marin Cilic and Denis Shapovalov so far and will be looking to add Taylor Fritz to the list.

Fritz, like Copil, has yet to drop a set in the tournament, having beaten Laslo Djere of Serbia, and Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland in straight sets. Both players will be high on confidence and looking to make an impressive semi-final appearance here in Basel.

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