Rafael Nadal is back in Basel action on Wednesday as he faces Pierre-Hugues Herbert in round two. Meanwhile, Roger Federer will begin his quest to go one step further than he did last year when he kicks off his campaign against Gilles Muller.
(Q) Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
In the wake of a wrist injury and appendicitis, Nadal is unquestionably well shy of 100 percent. That being said, the world No. 3 finally has some semblance of momentum heading into the Swiss Indoors Basel second round on Wednesday. Nadal, who fell in the Beijing quarterfinals to Martin Klizan and in the Shanghai second round to Feliciano Lopez, kicked off his week on Monday with a 6-2, 6-2 rout of Simone Bolelli. It was the Spaniard’s first career match victory in his third appearance at this tournament.
Up next for Nadal is Herbert, whom he has never faced. The in-form Frenchman is four for four in ATP qualifying attempts this fall, having played his way into the main draws of Metz, Tokyo, Stockholm, and now Basel. Herbert advanced to the last 16 on Monday by edging compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(3). The 23-year-old got a taste of the big stage around this time last season when he met Djokovic in the Paris second round, and he accounted himself well in a 7-6(3), 6-3 loss. An unfamiliar opponent may be tough for Nadal, but it will even more problematic for Herbert having never gotten a first-hand look at the former world No. 1’s game.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8-10 games
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(1) Roger Federer vs. Gilles Muller
Federer and Muller will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the second time this season on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at a perfect 4-0 in favor of Federer, who has prevailed over the Luxembourgian three times on hard courts. They have not faced each other on hards since the quarterfinals of the 2008 U.S. Open, a match won by Federer 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-6(5). Their most recent encounter came this summer at Wimbledon, where the Swiss scored a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Looking for his first Basel title since 2011 following consecutive runner-up finishes to Juan Martin Del Potro, Federer is 51-9 lifetime at this event with five career winner’s trophies. The world No. 2 is in good shape to bag another one, as he is coming off a title-winning run in Shanghai that included a semifinal scalp of Novak Djokovic. Extensive and productive work on the Challenger circuit has Muller back up to 51st in the rankings. The 31-year-old is now in ATP-level mode and recently reached three straight second rounds in Metz, Shenzhen, and Tokyo. He has not faced a top-10 opponent other than Federer since February of 2013. This is a steep climb up in competition for Muller, and home-court advantage for the crowd favorite will only further hurt the underdog’s cause.
Pick: Federer in 2 with no tiebreakers
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Keep Calm, Rafa.
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who ya got?
Rafa;
Fed
I don’t remember ever seeing Herbert play but he served 26 aces in the 1st round, but I checked his history of aces and that’s the most he’s ever served in one match. So we’ll see.
oh, another big hitter…what a bummer…
Rafa looks weary…he really doesn’t like the second part of the season and with everything else added to it I don’t really expect him to go far here…But I hope Rafa wins today…I would like to see more of him till the end of the season, although Rafa considers it finished already in terms of his form…let’s wait and see…
Nole is back for Paris though which means Fed will go for the win in Basel…anything he can get in his attempt to reach No1 again…
I am taking everything one day at a time, no expectations whatsoever for Rafa. I just want him to have the surgery as quickly as possible so he can start prepping for Australia, Australia should be his #1 priority imho…..
Rafa breaks without so much as taking a swing at the racquet……..
#plagiarist
Mo in the house!
C’mon Herbert, Rafa needs match play! Step it up……..
no he needs off the court as fast as possible!
Classic example of what happens to a serve-bot’s game when the serve is off……………
Herbert, the double fault machine……..
LOL at PHH’s serving
Rafa’s not even playing. This guy’s just imploding………
10 double faults…..
Make that 12….
Who’s next for Rafa?
Rafa breezed into the quarterfinals!
Vaamooss!!!
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Satisfied with his work
Via AP/Keystone
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no serve, no game for Herbert…good for Rafa to go and rest…nice and easy…not that Rafa had to do anything really except to be on the court…this fellow was just self-destroying…
Pierre-Hugues Herbert loves Rafa outfits:
🙂
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nice arrows
I think the pressure was too much for Herbert that’s why he made so many errors. I think R aha is looking great. He’s not making many errors and serving and moving well.
not sure why. he played Djoker last year in Paris. Should have been even more pressure there, by a mile.
Why would he feel more pressure against Djoko than Nadal. Beating Rafa has far more kudos than beating Nole even now that Rafa has had a few losses. He is the man everyone wants to beat above every other player.
much bigger tournament, and at home
not even close
and much tougher opponent on an indoor hard court
Well Ricky, Rafa beat Herbert 61 61 and Nole could only manage 76 63. Even though Kei actually beat Djoko at the USO they never mention that but can never talk about Kei now without saying he could have beaten Rafa in Madrid.
Davy’s retirement testimonial is the fact that he leads Nadal 6~5 in their h2h and they could only drum up Coretja (who played Nadal as a 16 year old), as the only other person in the entire universe in the history of tennis who has a positive h2h against Raf having played him more than once.
Kei didn’t even beat Rafa and he actually beat Nole in a slam, yet they don’t see that as important as Rafa beating Kei in a best of 3 losing one set.
Ricky Dimon (at 5:01 pm)
(English-speaking) TV announcers don’t care about victories over players other than Rafa.
Today, during the match BERDYCH vs. ANDUJAR (in Valencia), Mr. Koenig praised Davidenko for his victories over RAFA (!) and asked TV viewers to answer the question: who else besides Davidenko has a positive H2H against Rafa.
THE MATCH in Valencia HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH RAFA!!!!!!!!!!
well that’s Koenig. what else would you expect?
nadline10 ( at 5:50 pm)
—but can never talk about Kei now without saying he could have beaten Rafa in Madrid—
And the announcers obviously always “forget” that Kei beat Federer in Miami this year!
😆
Rafa will play Coric or Golubev next.
Rafa’s on court interview. Gets to talk about fishing.
http://youtu.be/HtS75JCB94Y
hopefully (and likely) Coric
Rafa’s practiced with Borna Coric in Mallorca in the end of last year
https://twitter.com/StarWingSM/status/413029502588289024/photo/1
Rafa’s Post-match conference on Oct.22.
Simon Häring (Journalist) tweeted:
#Nadal: “I’m still very tired during the matches. But physically I’m improving. I feel much better than a few days ago.”
#Nadal: “I’m surprised that I advanced that easy to the Quarter-Finals. I didn’t expect that before the tournament.”
#Nadal: “I finished the treatment with antibiotics. No more medicaments.”
I am moving this week and have not been able to watch any matches. I will have cable and Internet finally tomorrow.
It’s great to see that Rafa is in the quarterfinals!
Thank goodness for my iPhone.
Good luck to Rafa in his next match!
wow, this kid Borna is playing beautiful tennis..
So, it will be Coric vs Rafa………
Luke Skywalker vs Yoda;
The Karate Kid vs Mr Miyagi;
#TheRealDeal
#Mothwatering