Juan Martin Del Potro is one win away from temporarily putting himself in a World Tour Finals spot, but Roger Federer is standing in his way in Sunday’s Basel final. The Vienna title match is an all-French affair between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille.
(1) Roger Federer vs. (4) Juan Martin Del Potro
Federer and Del Potro will be facing each other for the 24th time in their careers and for the fourth time at this tournament when they battle for the Swiss Indoors Basel title on Sunday. The head-to-head series stands at 17-6 in Federer’s favor, but Del Potro is 2-1 in Basel–including 2-0 in finals. Del Potro triumphed 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(3) in 2012 and 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4 in 2013, while Federer prevailed 6-1, 6-4 during second-round action back in 2007. These two veterans most recently squared off in the Shanghai semis, with the Swiss getting the job done 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Del Potro could really use another victory in this one; in fact, an upset would propel him to an improbable spot in the World Tour Finals (with next week’s Paris Masters still pending). The 19th-ranked Argentine captured the Stockholm title last week and has advanced in Basel with victories over Joao Sousa, Julien Benneteau, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Marin Cilic. Federer is aiming for his eighth title at this event following defeats of Frances Tiafoe, Benoit Paire, Adrian Mannarino (in three sets), and David Goffin. The world No. 2 is 48-4 in 2017 and should be able to outlast what has to be a fatigued opponent.
Pick: Federer in 3
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(8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Lucas Pouille
Not too much unlike Del Potro, Tsonga needs a title on Sunday to be in serious World Tour Finals contention unless he plans on making a big run in Paris. The 15th-ranked Frenchman is also coming off a title-winning performance last week (Antwerp) and has advanced at the Erste Bank Open by taking out Karen Khachanov, Damir Dzumhur, Alexander Zverev, and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Up next for Tsonga is a third career showdown against Pouille, who has lost both of their previous encounters (6-4, 6-4 last year in Monte-Carlo and by the exact same scoreline earlier this season in the Marseille final). Pouille has slumped for the most part through the second half of 2017, but he at least managed to reach round four at the U.S. Open. So far this week he has defeated Sebastian Ofner, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Richard Gasquet, and Kyle Edmund. A significant edge in current form goes to Tsonga, and Pouille played almost three and a half hours of tennis on Saturday–singles and doubles combined.
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ATP Player of the Year is year end number one. Always has been.
ITF Player of the Year is Player with the most points from ITF results (slams and WTF). Always has been.
Not even up for debate.
#NothingNew
#HerbertWillWin
Sorry, just slams. WTF is ATP obviously.
Nole won ITF POTY in 2013 when Rafa finished No. 1.
BTW 8 is Rogers number this year and 10 Rafas
Roger – 8th Wimby, 8th Basel, 8 finals
Rafa – 10th MC, 10th Barcelona, 10th RG, 10 finals
Official: NO Paris for Federer, replaces by Lucas Pouille. See Rafa winning Paris for the first time
The updated Paris draw (without Fed):
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/paris/352/draws
Delpo was awesome! He almost broke RF in the 2nd set, he had two break points in the second set but R. Federer won’t let him, if he had broken, game over.
R. Federer is the best and what he has achieved this year at his age, honestly words won’t do it justice, this guy is an inspiration to all athletes, unbiased sports lovers etc.
Correct me if I am wrong, R. Federer has reached the Basel finals 11 times in a roll wow!!!
He didn’t play in 2016, M. Cilic won it.
R. Federer might not play Paris, I haven’t had the time to check or read much but I hope he plays, fatigued or not I want him to play, it’s just 2 remaining and I know he can win both.
Congrats to L. Pouille that guy, that guy is crazy, in 2 sets my goodness, well done Lucas & Congrats to C. Wozniacki, I wanted Venus 2 win but hmm… Congrats!
R. Federer won’t play Paris, WTF is sealed.
I didn’t get a chance to see any of the match. Did Fed look fitness-wise like he might realistically have enough in him to go deep in Paris?
Oh whoops! Hadn’t seen that he has pulled out yet. Great choice on his part. He wants the WTF too much to play Paris.
So Fed did opt to not play Paris. I hope Rafa can do well there.
It saddens me a bit to read articles or comments like ‘ Federer gives Rafa free pass to no 1’ . Has Rafa not earned his number 1 by winning 6 titles ( 2 slams and 3 masters in that ) and reaching 10 finals ? Has Federer withdrawn from Paris or not played clay for the love of Rafa to let him win or to protect his own body ? Who can give the guarantee that had Fed played the full season like Rafa he would have garnered even a point more than what he has today ? He has won 7 titkes because of the gaps and breaks he has taken. I am sure had he played a full season he would not have won couple of titles that he has won this year as his body would be fatigued.
Roger has played awesome this year but so had Rafa. The pro Roger press needs to stop writing articles almost insinuating that Rafa is number 1 because of favour from Roger as nothing is further than the truth .
Sanju AT 7:24 PM,
Fed’s supporters have ALWAYS behaved disgustingly towards Rafa.
Whoever finishes the year with the most points has earned it and deserves to be ranked no. 1. That’s what the points system is for, and professional tennis was a shambles before it was introduced. Points earned are (obviously) a reflection of performance in the most important tournaments.
As I’ve said earlier, this season is so interesting because it’s such a role reversal for Roger and Rafa. In 2017 Federer could well end up winning more tournaments than Nadal and be undefeated against him, yet still have far fewer points. If so, Nadal would have had the better year.
Of course! Rafa was excellent on clay this season and that counts! It’s not like Fed was beating Rafa on clay!
Had Rafa hung tough during the fifth set of AO final and won that one, we won’t be here questioning who has a better season between the two.
The ranking points don’t lie, esp when both are with two slam titles each. It’s not like Rafa was picking up points at smaller events to surge ahead. Comparing their results taking in same number of events played – Rafa has 5200 points from three best slams vs Fed’s 4360; Rafa has 3200 points from four Masters va Fed’s 3600; Rafa has 1300 points from three 500 events vs Fed’s 1045.
Rafa still leads Fed in the ranking points even when we take into account only ten of his events played.
Well, I would just stick with the overall number of points gained for the year. Otherwise it’s a bit of cherry picking.
If you want to do a secondary comparison, I think you should examine performance in tournaments that both men entered, which would of course favour Roger in 2017. I’ve never done it, but I’ve always wondered about how Federer and Nadal would stack up in such a comparison over the course of their careers.
Joe, you can do that only if Fed is also playing on clay!
I can safely tell you that in 2008, Rafa was better than Fed on grass and HCs (and clay of course, but we’re comparing non clay surfaces) having more points than Fed on both when playing in the same events.
In 2010, Rafa was better than Fed on grass but Fed was better on the HCs. In 2013 Rafa was better than Fed on the HCs, both not doing well on grass but Fed was still ahead of Rafa on grass. Those were the years when Rafa was YE no.1.
When Rafa was no.2 to Djoko, he was also doing better than Fed on grass in 2011 and Fed was better on the HCs. This season, Fed was obviously better than Rafa on grass having won both grass events. On the HCs, Fed was 1380 points ahead of Rafa (5960 minus 4580) when both playing in the same events.
You may feel that Fed was much better than Rafa on the HCs this year, but, the point differences was only 1125 adv Fed, when we take in same number of events played.
Rafa was better at the slams – 3200 vs Fed’s 2360. Fed was better at the Masters – 3600 vs Rafa’s 1380. Rafa was better at the 500 events – 800 vs Fed’s 545.
Had Rafa won the AO final, the points on HCs would have swung in his favor and he would be leading Fed by 475 points in those HC events; that’s how important winning a slam title is vs being the finalist (and how much the points could swing ie 1600 points).
I think we need to wait until the end of the season to even discuss who we think was better on HC this year, as Rafa could potentially add two more to his haul, and Fed could add one more. However, as of now, Rafa has won 1 “big title” (Majors, Masters, and WTF) on HC, while Federer has won 4 of them, all 4 of which he beat Rafa en route to the title… It’s going to be hard to convince people that Federer didn’t have a significantly better year on HC than everyone, unless Rafa can at least win the WTF. Then I’d say arguments could be made either way. Although some might then use the 2017 HC head-to-head as a tiebreaker for Federer.
Kevin, it’s not a matter of who’s better on the HCs; it’s who’s better overall considering the same number of tournaments played. The tour doesn’t only consist of HC events, though most of the events are on HCs.
If Rafa wins WTF, he would have one major, one WTF and another HC slam final, that means he’s doing better than Fed at the most important events. Fed was/is there at USO and WTF so Rafa would’ve won them in Fed’s presence. Given how close that AO final was, I would then say Rafa was better in BO5 whilst Fed in BO3 on the HCs.
If Rafa is the YE no.1, its well deserved as he’s playing a full season without injury break; wins many important titles, and if he wins the WTF, it’ll be icing on the cake. He may have a negative H2H vs Fed this season, but the same could be said of Fed in 2006, when Rafa beat Fed four straight times, at Dubai HC and thrice on clay, and ended the year 4-2 vs Fed despite Fed being YE no.1.
Federer has re-injured his back. You could tell that his serve mechanics were off in the final; probably explains his terrible 1st serve pct. At this point I think the “injury” is just chronic back pain/strain that will be with him for the rest of his career. He’ll just have to manage it the best he can. I expect he will be ok for WTF.
Fed is a realistic guy, he certainly knows his body won’t hold up well playing B2B events at the end of season. Had he played better at USO and won Montreal, he might have a good chance of clinching the YE no.1 ranking. He didn’t, so he knew deep down after watching how well Rafa played from USO to Beijing and Shanghai that he won’t have a realistic chance of getting YE no.1 without risking not winning WTF.
I suspect he wants the WTF because that serves as a tiebreaker between him and Rafa, as to who has a better season. He may also want to distance himself further from Djoko, who already has five WTF titles.
As for Delpo, he looked more tired than Fed in the third set; too much tennis for him. I doubt he can get a place at the WTF now, when he doesn’t look like he’s going to last. A pity, as he had chances to break Fed in the second set and won in straight and that would save him some precious energy.
Delpo is the only guy this year who can threaten Fed on the HCs; guys like Kyrgios and Berdych had him at Miami slower HC but they failed to capitalize on their chances. Surprisingly, Mannarino among the rest of the players had his chances vs Fed in the Basel QF but was not good enough to capitalize.
Fed really had his narrow escapes here but he was experienced enough to weather all storms. Frankly, I do feel Fed wasn’t really playing all that well except when playing against some low ranked, or young inexperienced guys who made him looked better than he really was. He had to fight tooth and nail to win many of his matches – AO vs Kei, Stan and Rafa; Miami vs Berdych and Kyrgios; Montreal vs Ferrer and A Zverev; USO vs so many of his opponents.
He’s playing very well at IW, Wimbledon and Shanghai – Shanghai because it’s a quick court; Wimbledon because it’s grass his fave surface and frankly not many players excel on grass and he’s clearly the best on grass. His easy win at IW was a surprise considering the slow high bouncing surface there.
Fed at 36 having such results and winning seven titles including two slams and three Masters is certainly very impressive, regardless of whether Djoko being around or not, as he’s well prepared to take advantage of that, whilst the rest of the field, except Rafa, couldn’t do the same.
I thought Fed played well overall today. His first serve pct. was terrible, but he still defended his 2nd serve well. He hit some amazing winners, but a lot of errors too. As I said, I think it was due to his back troubling him.
Delpo was good, but for the year I would say Kygrios gave Roger the biggest challenge on HC when he was healthy, in Miami. That was also the match of the year in terms of tennis quality, imo, even if AO final was higher on drama.
Miami? That was after Fed played IW; Fed didn’t look that fresh there either, especially after playing a tight match vs Berdych.
Fed wasn’t fresh in the final at Miami, but both he and Kygrios played brilliantly in their match. I’ve seen it described in more than one place as one of the best 3-set matches ever played. Here’s Tignor’ recap of it:
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/04/federer-and-kyrgios-three-hour-miami-epic-was-tennis-its-best/65143/
You are right. Those tiebreaks against Kyrgios were tough. Remember that superb BH volley down the line from Fed… That point could have put Kyrgios in a position to win the TB and the match. That was very very intense and high quality match. They were both near to their peaks.
AO final technically was a bit lower on quality, but emotionally huge.
I thought Nadal-Dimitrov at AO might have been higher quality overall than the final, setting aside Roger’s play in the 5th set.
I still think Nadal-Dimitrov was the best overall match of the year thus far. Fed-Kyrgios at Miami is definitely up there, too.
Yup, those are the two best for me.
Agreed. Nadal wasn’t at his best this year including AO except on clay where he was close.
I thought Rafa this year at Beijing and Shanghai (before the final) was the best I’ve ever seen him on HC. Serve was better at USO 2013, but I thought his overall game was better at those tournaments, definitely improved on AO this year.
I don’t think Nadal was ever better on clay than in 2017 RG final. Maybe equally good in 2008.
What I said at start of year about Rafa’s permanent loss of foot-speed now seems wrong. At least I couldn’t see it in American/Asian HC season.
At times Federer has been at his absolute best this year.
Rafa’s best on hard court was definitely peak in 2013 beating prime Djokovic in Montreal final (I was there). Simply insane level of tennis in the third set when both players were at their best. And then beating him again at the USO. This year, his serve was good but not 2013 level plus Rafa’s confidence was at its peak. Rafa has recovered from his loss of confidence in 2014-15 but it’s not where it was.
Kudos to fed for his unmatched staying power and longevity.
He’s obviously doing “something” right. As you say Joe, other than the tennis public obsession, the shoe’s on the other foot this year.
Or he might just want the world tour finals because it’s such a prestigious event? I don’t think all the top guys like Roger and Rafa try to win tournies to one up each other’s seasons. In the end what matters is that this season marked the revival of the Fedal dominance. We’ll see if it can continue next season and what shape guys like Novak and Andy are in.
Agree. I don’t think he can play better on clay than he did this season. And Beijing level was best I ever seen him playing on HC.
His best on clay was vs Nole in 2012-13 IMO. Much more complete player than 2008 and earlier.
Peak Nole on clay would have pushed Rafa much harder than Federer ever was able to at RG.
The game evolves at s rapid pace.
Yep. When Fed was entering his 30’s, Rafa and Novak took the game to a whole new level. It took Fed a while to figure out a way to still compete with those guys in his 30’s. You gotta hand it to him, though- he never gave up. Historically, with a couple exceptions, players just fell away when they reached their 30’s, as they just couldn’t keep up with the quickly-progressing game. They just would call it a day because they can’t compete for the big titles anymore. Even if he wasn’t winning majors in the last few years, Fed was still right there in the finals and semifinals. He could have easily said, “Screw this, these guys have moved too far ahead of me. I had my time, and now it’s theirs.” But he stuck with it. Props to him.
Equal props to Rafa. People were trying to write him off as well, and he made them look like fools. These guys both deserve some much credit for what they’ve done this year. Truly remarkable. Fed and Rafa made it out of their respective early 30’s slumps. Let’s see if Novak and Andy can do the same!
I believe Djoko and Murray can too, though may not be as spectacular as Fedal’s. They’re too good not to have successful comebacks.
On clay he was better than ever. Wimbledon he was amazing as well. On the HC’s post Cincinatti he was at his best. His serve was actually FASTER than ever and more varied, in fact every type of shot he played at the US Open was on average faster than in 2013
Rafa has tougher competition in 2013.
He was great this year but he wasn’t pushed so it was easier for him to be aggressive, shot speed included.
His serve was faster????
Source please.
Rafa was better on clay this year than in 2008/2013. Rafa was wobbly at the start of FO2013. He was getting better after beating Foggy in R4. I would say that the 2017 Rafa on clay was more aggressive, he won’t let Djoko have even a set playing so aggressively, unlike in 2013 FO. The 2013 Rafa was playing mostly from the baseline and had to fight hard to win; this 2017 Rafa was aggressive from the get go, never hesitated to move forward when the opportunities were there. He was dictating from start to finish!
Nah. He didn’t face the same level of competition this year.
He was great, just not pre-2014.
Rafa post 2013 USO was not a great level . He did not win a single tournament after that and even lost against Ferrer.
Rafapost 2017 USO has been much better.
Agreed. Rafa though was more consistently great on HCs in 2013 despite his post USO2013 not so great tennis. In 2017 his level on the HCs was so up and down; post AO he wasn’t great; he’s also poor at Canada/Cincy but thereafter, was great again at USO, Beijing and Shanghai.
Rafa no doubt had better results during the European clay season in 2013 ( four titles plus one final) but he had played fewer matches prior to that (18) compared to now in 2017 when he had already played 23 matches prior to the main clay season. He was running on fumes by Rome, understandable when he’s 30 almost 31 compared to 2013 when he was 26 or 27.
No, he’s more aggressive than in the past. I certainly won’t call Thiem not of same level of competition on clay compared to Kei or Foggy of 2013. I would say Rafa is more aggressive, more skillful and crafty now than in 2013, a more complete player on clay, compensating for loss of speed and power as he grows older. The same could be said of Fed on grass and HCs this season.
Of course with a peak form Djoko around, things might be different but I doubt Djoko would be beating Rafa on clay or Fed on grass this season. He would beat them on the HCs more than they would beat him imo.
A healthy Feds can beat a health Delpo 9 out of 10 times http://www.138mph.com/tennis-federer-fights-off-del-potros-resistance-in-the-battle-of-basel/
Nope, it’s 7.5 out of 10 tines; the stats said so – 18 vs 6!
But neither guy has always been healthy against one another. Doesn’t matter or anything. Just sayin lol
Exactly! Can’t say that Delpo was always in tip top conditions when facing Fed, or vice versa for that matter.
Yep great point. Thankfully today they produced a great match. I hope Del Po can qualify for the world tour finals with a run in Paris. I just feel he may be wiped.
Yep, it was a great match today overall. Each guy obviously had moments of missed opportunity, but that actually made for a lot of suspense. Fed obviously made a lot of errors, but he also hit a million winners. He was just going for broke and it was awesome. He must have hit like 40 forehand winners in that match! Delpo is just so dangerous indoors. He just completely takes the racquet out of your hands. I said the same thing before Basel and he turned out fine, but it’s getting to the point where I just can’t imagine him making it far in Paris. Maybe he could make it to the semis to face Rafa, but I can’t see how he could overcome Rafa after all this tennis.