The Top 5: Roger Federer moments in Basel

Talking Tennis with Tracy: Learning from Roger Federer

As the draw begins to wind down at the ATP 500-level tournament in Basel, Switzerland, it’s still jarring not to see the hometown hero among those vying for the title.

The recently retired Roger Federer won Basel a record-setting 10 times. A former ball boy at the Swiss Indoors, Federer made his first playing appearance at the tournament in 1998, where he faced Andre Agassi in the first round. The 17-year-old lost in straight sets that day, but it would be one of his few early exits from an event he’d go on to dominate.

Before his retirement at Laver Cup, Federer was scheduled to return to the ATP Tour in Basel. That didn’t happen, but we’ll always have these highlights:

1. First Final

A year after losing to Agassi, Federer would go on to reach the quarterfinals before Tim Henman stopped his run. In 2000, ranked 34th in the world, the 19-year-old reached his second final of the year after edging out top-tenner Lleyton Hewitt in a third-set tiebreaker. In the final, however, Federer came out on the wrong end of a match going the distance, as the veteran Thomas Enqvist beat him in a roller-coaster five-setter.

2. The Shot

Two years before either of them won a Grand Slam title, young stars Federer and Andy Roddick met in the quarterfinals. Playing a a third-set tiebreak, and trailing 3-1, the big-hitting Roddick saw that serving and volleying—and putting away an overhead—is anything but, as Federer hit what was arguably the greatest shot of his career:

3. Victory at Last

Missing the tournament in 2004 and 2005, Federer returned to Basel a man on a mission. Having won three of the four Grand Slams that year and reaching the final of the other, the Swiss was clearly at the top of his game. He entered the indoor tournament on a 14-match winning streak and with only one loss under his belt dating back to June. After surviving a third-set tiebreaker in the semis (against Paradorn Srichaphan), Federer went on to defeat Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets in the final to claim his first hometown title.

4. The Streaks

After his first triumph, the flood gates opened. Federer won Basel again in 2007, topping Jarkko Nieminen in a straight-set final, then followed that up with a victory over his longtime rival David Nalbandian in 2008. After his streak was stopped in the 2009 final by Novak Djokovic, Federer turned the tables on him in the 2010 title bout, then won again in 2011 over Kei Nishikori. After back-to-back final losses in 2012 and 2013 to Juan Martin del Potro, Federer never tasted defeat in Basel again, winning five straight times.

5. 103 and Done

Before injuries started to slow him down, Federer more than plenty in the tank as recently as 2019. Entering Basel ranked third in the world at 38 years old, the all-time great stormed to the title without the loss of a set. In his last two matches, he handily beat two of the game’s bright young talents, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur, for the 103rd title of his career—which would turn out to be his last.