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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