rogerfederer.com - Roger loses Basel final

Roger loses Basel final

A scattering of errors in the final tie break of the final set cost our champ the Basel Open Final 4-6,7-6,6-7 against the No 2 del Potro today. This was an exciting match that swayed back and forth and was completely absorbing with some very high quality tennis.

Roger, who won the event in five of the past six years, was seeking his 77th career title to tie John McEnroe at fourth on the Open Era list. Del Potro ended a six-match losing streak against our top-ranked champ, which also included a five-set defeat at the French Open."You deserved it," Roger told his opponent on court. "You had a couple of tough losses against me this year and I'm really happy for you." Del Potro's victory in 2 hours, 44 minutes compared to his 4-hour, 26-minute defeat at the Olympics -the longest three-set match in history - when Roger won the decider 19-17 on Centre Court, Wimbledon.As he did at Roland Garros and the Olympics, Del Potro took the first set, breaking Roger’s serve in the fifth game after a 21 shot rally.Our champ struggled briefly with his ground strokes, netting two forehands and a backhand to give Del Potro the lead.The second-seeded Del Potro relied on solid serving and unleashed blistering forehands when needed. He took his first set point chance when Roger sent a backhand wide. Both players wasted their only break chances in the second set, which hinged on a tense service game at 5-5 by Roger. Facing break point, Roger struck a brilliant forehand crosscourt winner then saw Del Potro slip up by netting a sliced backhand on the next point.Roger controlled the tiebreaker and punched the air when he levelled the match, as Del Potro let a backhand drift wide.Roger held three break points at 1-1 in the deciding set, but Del Potro saved them all before firing an ace to win the game.A wild forehand from our champ let another break chance slip in the seventh game, which Del Potro clinched with another ace. Roger was electrifying at 5-6 down and struck three straight aces to force another tie-breaker.Roger then netted a topspin forehand giving del Potro his first match-point chance on another wayward forehand from the top-seeded Roger. In spite of the result not going Roger’s way, it was a match that was full of quality & entertaining tennis from both men.