PeRFect 10 in Basel for Roger Federer
The Swiss took down his 10th Swiss Indoors crown with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Alex De Minaur.
Roger Federer is a ten-time champion in Basel after defeating Alex De Minaur 6-2 6-2 in Sunday’s final.
The Swiss produced a top drawer performance to dominate proceedings, breaking his opponent four times and firing twenty-four winners to land the title in 1 hour and 8 minutes.
The win is Federer’s 103rd career title and he’s the first man to win ten titles at a single hard court event having achieved the same feat earlier this season on the grass courts of Halle.
Quick Match Recap
De Minaur won the toss and elected to receive. Federer quickly moved up 40-0, but a flurry of errors got De Minaur to deuce, and the Swiss needed to pull off a slick stretch volley to avoid facing a breakpoint before finally holding for 1-0.
The next game followed a similar pattern with De Minaur progressing to 40-0 before letting Federer back into the game, but he held to thirty to level at 1-1.
A comfortable hold to love for Federer put him up 2-1, and in game four he fashioned 0-40, aided by a De Minaur double-fault at 0-15.
The Aussie saved two of them, the second after a 39 shot rally that Federer tried to end with a backhand down the line that wasn’t on. However, the Swiss wasn’t perturbed, going down the line again before putting away an overhead to break for 3-1.
A hold to thirty consolidated the break for 4-1. But the Swiss was soon back serving after De Minaur came up with some solid hitting to hold for 2-4.
A rip-roaring forehand gave De Minaur 0-15 in game seven and with Federer not serving too well the Aussie had a half-chance at thirty all. Right on cue Roger produced a quality first serve that got him the volley put away, and he held for 5-2.
The Swiss then took advantage of some loose De Minaur groundstrokes to create two set points at 15-40. A smart body serve saved the first, but a missed mid-court forehand gave Federer the set 6-2.
Into set two and an impressive angled stop volley got Federer quickly on the board.
De Minaur needed to find a way to win cheap points on serve, but he was soon down 0-40 after making his 14th unforced error of the match. De Minaur saved the first to, but a delightful pass secured the early break.
A hold to fifteen consolidated the break, the game featuring a superb forehand reminiscent of one he hit against Nalbandian back in 2011.
De Minaur then fired down a love hold of his own to regain composure but some trademark Federer forehands saw him hold for 4-1.
The Swiss then came up with another stylish floated backhand pass to put a double break in sight at 30-40, but De Minaur held for 2-4.
That gave the Aussie some impetus, and he hit through the ball to create 0-30 on Federer’s serve. A superb pass up the line averted facing a breakpoint to make thirty all and the defending champions serve got him out of trouble to hold for 5-2.
Another backhand winner down the line put the Swiss up 0-15 in game eight, and he soon had Championship point which he converted at the first time of asking to take down his 10th Basel title.
Match Stats
| Swiss Indoors Final 2019 | Roger Federer | Alex De Minaur |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 4 | 0 |
| Double Faults | 0 | 1 |
| 1st Serve | 64% (32/50) | 65% (30/46) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 78% (25/32) | 53% (16/30) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 61% (11/18) | 50% (8/16) |
| Break Points Saved | 0% (0/0) | 60% (6/10) |
| Service Games Played | 8 | 8 |
| 1st Serve Return Points Won | 47% (14/30) | 22% (7/32) |
| 2nd Serve Return Points Won | 50% (8/16) | 39% (7/18) |
| Break Points Converted | 40% (4/10) | 0% (0/0) |
| Return Games Played | 8 | 8 |
| Winners | 24 | 11 |
| Unforced Errors | 12 | 17 |
| Net Points Won | 71% (12/17) | 40% (6/15) |
| Service Points Won | 72% (36/50) | 52% (24/46) |
| Return Points Won | 48% (22/46) | 28% (14/50) |
| Total Points Won | 60% (58/96) | 40% (38/96) |
Highlights
Thoughts on the Match
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 never looked back. 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. 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. The first game was very important, I had forty-love, he got back into the game and if I got broken it would be a tough one, I think it was also important to hold quickly in the next game and show look I can hold my serve easier and from then I kept on rolling.
Federer on his final win over Alex De Minaur
A superb performance from Federer here and he kept the level he’d set all week with more fast-paced, aggressive ball striking to play on the front foot throughout.
This match also saw him bring out the variety in his game, mixing up the pace throughout and using the slice. The floated backhand slice down the line pass particularly effective with De Minaur missing two easy-ish forehand volleys. Was it a pre-planned play? He certainly came out with the right tactics which were invaluable as he didn’t have his best serving day.
Roger’s opponent had won three titles so far this season and while he wasn’t intimidated by Federer, often going toe to toe, he lacked the firepower in his game to unsettle the Swiss from the baseline.
As a result, Federer was able to dominate, firing 24 winners and restricting De Minaur to just 53% and 50% of points won behind his first and second serves, giving him zero free points on serve and applying constant pressure.
The now 10-time champions backhand was also on song, producing five clean winners, many of them passing shots when De Minaur had come forward. The forehand was also sublime, working the angles peRFectly and getting the points all on his terms. Not too shabby at the net either and that angled stop volley in the first game of set two was majestic.
So a fantastic week and the end result is another title and more milestones reached. I thought Fed moved fantastic, looked sharp moving to his right and played such a smart final. Clear gameplan, peRFect execution and great to watch.
Will he play Paris? Looks likely.
What did you guys think of the finale? Let me know in the comments.
Première !
🥇
1st
Great week from Federer, the best of the year to my taste (and even last year).
Solid and composed, I wish he would have played like this in WImbledon’s final.
Well, he has a chance to win in London, and cut some distance with the titles record.
I think he should go to Paris.
1st
Not quite 😀 jai bhole ki
Massacre.
Happy for the 10th !! I hope he’ll play Bercy !
Are you going to Bercy?
Very nice match and tournament. He should be ready for Paris and not too exhausted.
I thought so too, but a week off and then arriving at the O2 seems like the plan.
Thank you Roger !!
He got sentimental for several times after the victory and so was I…
Ye was an emotional trophy ceremony, although I had no idea what he was saying in Swiss German.
22 more wins and 7 more titles to break Connors’ records.
¿Only 22?
Should be done early next year!
No, Roger still need 39 wins…
Ye it’s 39. 1274 vs 1235.
10th, line his title. THE GOAT
*like
🏆
Congratulations Roger! So happy for him. I wondered if he was a bit nervous at the start but if so he recovered pretty quick and after that he was his awesome self. Has he committed to Paris yet, and is he back to number 3 in the rankings?
Thank you Jonathan for your great analysis and write-ups all week, not to mention the speed with which you do them. I think I’ll give up trying to be “1st” tho, that’s almost as nerve wracking as some of Roger’s matches lol!
I always look forward to your columns and as a non tennis player have actually learned a lot about tennis from them.
Cheers Miss Elly. Yes I think he was a bit nervous in both his last two matches but settled quickly and the rest is history 🙂
What a fannntastic match!
De Minaur also played very well, but Roger was simply excellence!
Ye the scoreline in the first set was quite harsh as De Minaur was actually pretty close to Fed’s level, just no free points.
Bravo, Roger, Du hast’s geschafft!
Thank You, Jonathan, for giving us superb analysis throughout the week.
Smiling faces on all Fedfans!
Cheers Dolores.
When the vintage JesusFed is goating, no one can stop him. It was an awesome final and awesome victory No.10!
His passion for the game is second to none. No wonder the ceremony was another emotional one for him and all of us.
As for Paris, I trust him and his team with whatever they decide for the schedule. I’d like him to enjoy his life on tour as long as possible.
Congrats and thanks Jonathan for the great job throughout the week 🙂
Auf gehts!
Thank you Jonathan for all the excellent write-ups. What a performance in final, what a week, what an achievement – the 10th HC title in front of home crowd! Who else? Just our maestro – the GOAT – Roger Federer!
Cheers, yes top class.
Where was Mirka? Thought I caught a quick shot of the children during the presentation but didn’t see Mirka?
Someone said she was spotted in the box at the end of the match. I didn’t see her but wasn’t paying full attention.
Finally throughout fit on same level as in Wimbledon. This time with a clearly deserved tour win. NICE!
Bercy and London may be more tough, the courts not being his favorite cups of tea.
Still very impressive with Fed’s seemingly effortless beauty of moving and producing winners.
Wouw!
Depends on the speed, they are the same surface (Greenset) so if they are close to basel in terms of speed and bounce then he should enjoy.
Alex on the phone to Lleyton….I stuck to my game plan but it all fell apart. Every time I had a different paced ball coming my way and then the slice, and then the bhdl. My head was spinning. And then there were those wicked forehands. And, Roger wasn’t even serving that well. Now I know what it’s like to play the Goat when he is on song. What a privilege we have had, Lleyton.
What a week you gave us, Roger! A very, very emotional day for us all! Another ride on the famous Fed rollercoaster!
Like a boxer said:
“everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”
We are all so addicted to the ride, aren’t we.
““everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”
And styles makes fights.
What great performance by the master all week!! Blessed to be able to watch him play every match from start to finish. Would be great if he can play Bercy and beat Nadal once more this year. He is playing great and healthy and eager to win. The slow courts at Bercy take half the fun out, but he has done well on the slow courts of Wimbledon and others this year. He is playing his best tennis of the year and I hope we get to watch a bit more of him than usual.
Be interested to see what the CPI is this year in Paris. was 34 last year whereas London was 40 so quite a big difference. I thought they were meant to get them similar in pace seen as though Paris is no longer Gerflor.
Very nicely done indeed. I think Alex knew he was going to be facing a master, but how do you actually prepare for that? At 2-2 in the 2nd, Alex is at the net, Roger has this huge open court down the line so of course he’ll go there, and Alex of course moves to try to cover that, but no, Roger goes cross court at an impossible angle right in front of Alex. Youngster had a great tournament & seems like we’ll be seeing much more of him very soon. He does have that Lleyton-esque trait of running down everything – he’ll build on that & develop more skills to put away the ball when he gets there.
I find I have not done as good a job as our guy has of putting Wimby behind me, because as I’m hearing “4 titles this year!” I’m thinking, somewhat resentfully, “should have been 5…” … cough cough.
I too wondered about Mirka… & then I thought, wait, was she missing last year too? Can’t remember.
I’m not too fussed about Bercy. Whatever’s best for him. They do say it’s playing faster with lower bounces this year.
I saw Mirka in tbe box hugging Robbi
Oh good! I paused the video but of course you don’t always see everything…
Alex is one of the finest young players. He is not just about chasing every ball but has also very good hands at the net and tactical intelligence. He needs a little more power and depth on his shots and to take proper care of his body too. It’s a bit scary how so many players in their early 20s are forced to stop because of injuries and the way he races across the court makes one wonder…
Yeah De Minaur has a pretty good game plan to get points on his term, even though his backhand is a bit of a weakness, does well to manage it.
Not sure about his net skills, missed some easy forehand volleys of those sliced passes.
Hadn’t seen the news about court speed, in Paris, they are usually paired with London to be similar so that is good news if true. Impossible to judge the speed when watching with that camera angle, unfortunately.
Merci encore Magicien FEDOU, une fois de plus tu nous a régalés, De Minaur n’a pas démérité tout comme Tsitsipras hier mais que peu-on faire face un grand champion quand il développe son meilleur tennis si élégant, mais surtout si varié.
Merci à Jonathan pour ses analyses pointues qui éclairent les néophytes comme nous.
Il a été émouvant comme un grand champion plein d’humilité qu’il est, il n’a pas besoin d’offrir son coeur au public.
Nous l’attendons à Bercy!!!!!!
Merci beaucoup Bensa.
Yes ! yes ! yes !
Everlasting Roger ! Thank you. So happy !
Why does this man make us cry either of sadness when he loses, either of joy when he wins ? How lucky we are, once again, to watch his fantastic game. All the week long, his way of playing reminded me of 2017. And he is 2.5 years older. Incredible !
I think he should play in Paris if he thinks he can. Otherwise, we’ll wish him a good rest.
A good week from De Minaur. He seems to be a nice young man.
And congrats to Jonathan whose recaps are fedastic too !
Cheers. Are you going to Bercy?
I saw Mirka in tbe box hugging Robbi
Ah I didn’t see her, thought she’d run off with the gardener. Saw the kids though.
Great performance, and superb all week. fast, full of energy, using all the tools in the kit! Perfect 10!
Nothing to add to yr report Jon, thks for all the write ups. 10/10 to you too
Funnily enough, I am not sure about Paris. His interview ( see @svenja on twitter suggested he is undecided) will make final decisON Monday. Clearly wants WTFs, having missed out on IW, Wimbledon etc, and wth last 2 years as well.
We shall see
Good call, it did unlikely when he made that comment to press, very non-committal. I bet Forget was expecting or had already got wind of it.
Well done Fed.The last bastion still standing.Going to try to go next year.Such a great event.
The awards for the ball boys and girls such a lovely touch.Nice to see his children hugging each other.
That first game was a bit of a roller coaster,but once he held on there it was plain sailing.
If he plays like that in Paris he will be hard to stop.
🍕🍕🍕
Yeah cool pizza party. Terrible outfits for the ball kids though this year. Those shorts looked daft on the girls.
In Vienna, they give the kids rackets with nets on to catch the ball. Boring, you want them to learn hand eye co-ordination, not catch with a basket.
Thanks Jonathan, for some great write-ups for the week. Excellent play from Roger all week and a lovely ceremony and another title to show for it. I would think this is a very special title for him, where it all started for him and his family so many years ago. So privileged to see him lift another trophy.
Cheers Lindy.
What a week, Roger really played superbly throughout the week. W.O against Stan helped. Personally I prefer if he skips Bercy, go to London early and prepare. It’s been a while since he won WTF. Let’s do this Rog.
Your wish is Rogers command.
Hey guys… R103er Federer in the house, he did it 🙂
I am soooo proud of him and soooo proud to be his fan. I watched the match. Some shots… oh my God.
On one hand I want him to play Paris so I can see him, but on the other hand I want him to skip it to be fresh for WTF…
Diwali ki Shubhkaamnaayein,
Jai bhole ki. The desi daru is on me.
No Percy for Roger this year.
I think he should have played Paris after working only 4 hours for the Basel title.
But I don’t feel Roger’s back so I can’t tell…
Anyways, not expecting much from London. 2 wins and a SF seems a solid achievement. If both are healthy, he will have either Rafa or Novak at the RR which will be interesting.
Plus the top of the game is tougher than it was in the past two years.
What is the back talk? Alison said it was taped below, but I seen nothing about that?
Nothing specific.
Just wanted to say that Roger feels his condition and we are not, so unless he explicitly says he has a problem, all we can do is speculate.
If he’s not 100% fit, just 90%, it’s his call.
I guess we both thought that if he won Basel easily and without much court time, he would like to have some more time on the court in Paris.
But I guess his level in Basel gave him enough confidence that he can skip Paris and not take any risks.
“I am extremely disappointed to have to withdraw from the Rolex Paris Masters. I have to spare myself because I want to play as long as possible on the ATP Tour. I am sorry for my French fans that I will see next year at Roland Garros”
PR talk at its best (regarding the first sentence…)
Of course. Public relations (add also political talk) have that nasty effect of twisting the meaning of words.
Disappointment is what we feel when something nice did not happen for some cause alien to our will. The decision to not play Bercy was ultimately Roger’s, not someone else’s commandment. And fully respectable. But not “disappointing” for him. For some fans, yes.
Not quite as the standard footballer interview of when they sign for a new club.
“I’ve always dreamt of playing here…”
Pontus Jansson said that when he joined Brentford 😆
Shame. Pretty good draw for Nadal to confirm his No 1 spot and to try to earn his first Paris M1000 tittle.
I think it’s a good choice from the mental point of view. He’ll arrive to the O2 Arena on Cloud 9. I think physically he could have absolutely done it, but we want the Finals, so everything that goes in the direction of increasing his possibilities is approved.
As an Italian fan I am a bit annoyed by the fact that he made Gael’s draw much easier, therefore much more of a concurrent for Matteo Berrettini’s final spot in the Finals, I must say it. Hopefully Matteo makes it nonetheless
So Monfils has to win Paris to qualify, Berrettini has to make the final to qualify. Well those results put it purely in their own hands rather than permutations of others losing.
Yes, but now Monfils should have an easier draw, while Matteo’s was terrible from the start. Luckily the Russians in his spot fell rapidly, but he still has Nadal in the quarters (eventually).
I am still confident, though, because if he wins today then he should be really safe (95%)
In a way, disappointing not to see Roger in Paris. The tournament with the camera placement making the court look square.
The other players in the draw must be very happy. They see how he played in Basel.
I’m thinking the ATP site should stop the comments section at the end of an article. The losers come out to play and say nasty comments about the players.
Oh, and thanks Jonathan for your reporting.
The comments list on the ATP site is an endless pile of verbal garbage. Keeping that thing working is a waste of computational resources.
I never read the comments on ATP site tbh. Powered by Facebook, does anyone still use that? Garbage.
I am not surprised at all with the fact that Roger doesn’t want to play in the kind of court where balls don’t fall back, once up in air. In addition, I wondered why Roger had a few slow starts with his service games in the last couple of rounds in Basel. Perhaps, his back is a bit tired and needs some rest. This could only be good, when Roger comes to London.
I think the balls not falling back is purely from the camera angle, not how it plays.
Well, if as reported he had his back taped for the last two matches in Basel then it’s probably better he pulls out of Bercy rather than risk making it worse. Hopefully he’ll be fully fit for WTF (or whatever the abbreviation is now).
Who reported that?
Someone usually reliable on MTF.
Fuck. Why the hell he planned all this exhos… Luckily, some will get cancelled.
How come some will get cancelled?
Chile is said that can be cancelled due to the “civil” unrest happening now, the president gave them what they wanted but the left are still destroying everything (obviously).
As for Colombia, in the ESPN LA broadcast yesterday the commentators said there was some tensions with the organizers, some people demanded more money, tickets weren’t sold as much as they expected, etc. I don’t know for sure what is happening there.
I hope this can be resolved and everyone who paid the ticket can watch Roger.
By luckily, I meant in Roger’s side, so he won’t be too tired.
Ah interesting, haven’t seen anything about that in Western Media.
No wonder… The media here is buyed by the “progressists”, everything is about “the fail of capitalism and (neo)liberalism in Chile”. Thanks to the new socialists leaders in the region.
Absolutely disgusting.
The Chile situation is all over the news. In England Jonathan you are overloaded with Brexit news lol.
Hey Sue, is Shapo no longer Canadian?
Changed nationality? I haven’t seen that?
I’ve seen somebody saying on twitter he’s changed nationality to Russian for Davis cup, not sure it was a joke or fake news 😆
Not that I know of, Wanda. Some Canadian tennis players use the Bahamas as a residence for tax purposes.
A joke I’d say. He was born in Israel.
Roger has just cancelled his participation at the ATP Cup next year…
Very weird, he plays all the Latino-Exhos in Nov + plus the Bling-Bling China Show-Event in Dec but leaves out an official ATP Event (he used to play Brisbne or that least the Hopeman Cup in the past)
https://www.blick.ch/sport/tennis/wegen-mirka-und-den-kindern-federer-verzichtet-auf-den-atp-cup-2020-id15591387.html
Very weird move there… I can’t guess what happened, he said he will go there.
¿Money?
These exhos must be giving him a lot of money. I don’t get it at all. Cancelling an event before AO to “spend time with the family”. He always talks about how he and his family spend the month in Australia and love it. Blah blah blah. Maybe his family isn’t going to Australia?
None of our business what he does, but I don’t get it. Go to South America etc when you retire.
Exactly, I don’t get it either, it’s said the exhos will give him 10 millions. Just don’t travel 50.000 km in two months if you want to rest and being with your family.
Especially if it could be the only participation in the new tournament.
I wonder if the problem with all theses issues is Roger’s greedy manager Tony GOLDsick..
Well, Djokovic looks like he’s at his weakest form, let’s see Nadal.
With Medvedev out and Djokovic at this level, it was a missed opportunity.
The bigger opportunity I see here for Roger is at the WTF. Why overplay and not be ready for the next main event after the slams? Its a good call from Roger scheduling-wise.
Hey guys, here’s hoping that Roger not playing ATP Cup will be a good decision. He got really burned for playing the exho’s but not playing ATP Cup. To be honest not a decision I agree with, but Roger and his team know better. Maybe he wants to do the exho’s to… feel the love more?? Maybe he needs that extra motivation?? I don’t know.
But I do think Rafa and Novak will cancel ATP Cup too…. And when they do, everybody will say that they did the right thing. They won’t get trashed because Roger already got that 🙂
I just wish Roger knows HOW important AO 2020 is. If Rafa decides to give it his all and wins it, he will get 21 at RG 2020.
Rafa has pulled off or given a walkover at half of the tours he played last year and this year, still manages to win 2 GS and becomes world number one…. while being injured….. sigh…. yep…. NOT A RAFA FAN HERE….
#sorrynotsorry
#atleastSatanisnotworldnumberone