Swiss Indoors Basel has walked through the semis today picking up its two finalists along the way. It'll all come down to another Roger Federer vs Juan Martin del Potro, a clash that weighs a lot for each one of them. Today's session did nothing but consolidate these two players' winning streaks. The Argentine had to dig carefully past Marin Cilic, 2016 champion and a dangerous opponent, especially on indoors conditions. On the other side, Federer in a casual display of tennis breezed past David Goffin who was also trying to secure his spot for the Nitto ATO Finals before heading to Paris for the last ATP event of the regular season.
Marin Cilic and David Goffin both lost in straight sets
Del Potro managed to get past the defending champion and the second seed in two symmetrical sets 6-4 6-4. Entering the match, del Potro was leading Cilic by 9-2 in head to head stats and was determined to keep it the same way after this one in Basel too. An early exchange of breaks in the opening set was proof of a tense battle. The key moment of the match occurred in the ninth game with Cilic losing his own serve thus allowing the Argentine to serve out the set in the very next game which he did in no time. An early break in the second basically sealed the deal in del Potro's favor. Despite all of his efforts, Cilic was unable to turn the tables and his bid in Basel was over.
Del Potro is into his third final in Basel where he holds an immaculate record. He won the title twice, and each time he got past Roger Federer in the final. Tomorrow, they will meet again.
The second semifinal put David Goffin in the same pit with the crowd's favorite and local boy Roger Federer. As expected, the Belgian who had lost all the previous five meetings against the Swiss star headed to another defeat.
Federer played a perfect game to win in straight sets by 6-1 6-2 in a bit over an hour of play.
Federer vs del Potro with another interesting clash in the making
Roger Federer may lead del Potro by 17-6 in head to head stats, but the Argentine knows how to work his way around Federer's near-to-perfection tennis. It's going to be their fourth encounter in 2017 and despite Federer leading by 2-1, the Argentine won the most important tie, in the quarterfinals of the US Open.
To add even more drama to this next clash, both are chasing down some huge goals. Federer is making a last-minute call to question Rafael Nadal's position while del Potro is a contender for the last ATP Finals available spot.
