Roger Federer is two wins away from a sixth Basel title, but Ivo Karlovic stands in his way of the final on Saturday. A more surprising semifinal pits David Goffin against 17-year-old Borna Coric.
(1) Roger Federer vs. (8) Ivo Karlovic
Federer is now 54-9 lifetime at the Swiss Indoors Basel and he has put himself two victories away from a sixth title at this event as he takes the court for semifinal action on Saturday. The 33-year-old Swiss is looking for his first winner’s trophy in Basel since 2011 after being denied by Juan Martin Del Potro in the final in both 2012 and 2013. His path to the last four this week was not entirely routine. Federer destroyed Gilles Muller then scraped past Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 before defeating Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(4), 6-2. Coming off a title at the Shanghai Masters, the world No. 2 is 64-10 for what has been a resurgent 2014 campaign.
Up next for Federer is Karlovic, against whom the 17-time major champion is 11-1 lifetime. Federer has won five in a row in the head-to-head series since being upset by the 6’11” Croat at the 2008 Cincinnati Masters. They most recently faced each other this spring in Miami, where Federer prevailed 6-4, 7-6(4). Karlovic, 35, advanced to the semis by beating Lukas Rosol, Kenny De Schepper, and Benjamin Becker. The eighth seed is playing well enough and serving well enough to keep this close, but Federer is all too familiar with the Karlovic serve. It is worth noting that Federer is 12-3 in 15 tiebreakers played between the two veterans.
Pick: Federer in 2 with one tiebreaker
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(7) David Goffin vs. (WC) Borna Coric
Goffin and Coric will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when the two fast-rising players collide on Saturday. While it is a somewhat surprising matchup, Goffin’s hot streak has been in progress for quite some time–four months, in fact. The 28th-ranked Belgian is an unbelievable 42-2 since Wimbledon, a stretch that includes two ATP titles in addition to pure domination on the Challenger circuit. Goffin has remained on fire this week by defeating Dominic Thiem, Ivan Dodig, and Milos Raonic.
Coric really started to make a name for himself this summer. The 17-year-old Croat, who will become the youngest player in the top 100 on Monday, reached his first career ATP quarterfinal on the clay courts of Umag before making it to the second round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier. After kicking off this week with scalps of Ernests Gulbis and Andrey Golubev, Coric pulled off the biggest victory of his career by upsetting Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-6(4). Although the underdog played well and held his nerve on Friday, Nadal was not the typical Nadal. Coric’s win should not get blown out of proportion and it will be difficult for the youngster to bounce back mentally from such a momentous occasion–especially against an opponent as hot as Goffin.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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