The Atp 500 event in Basel had a solid and intriguing draw. On Friday 27 October, the quarterfinals session was on display and it didn't disappoint the audience at all. Some thrilling three-set matches unfolded in the Swiss city but at the end of the day, there was no room for upsets or unexpected guests in the last four stages. In what seems like an uncharacteristic feature of this season, the semis will put the highest seeds up for a fight.
Seeded first, Roger Federer will take on the third seed David Goffin while the defending champion and the second seed Marin Cilic will put Juan Martin del Potro (fourth seed) to a difficult test.
David Goffin as the only one who managed to win in straight sets
The sense of drama was on the rise in yesterday's session inside the venue in Basel. The first three matches of the day needed a decisive third set.
Juan Martin del Potro started the day by facing Roberto Bautista-Agut. Despite winning the opening set by 6-2, things went off the rail pretty quickly for the Argentine who went on to lose the second act with a similar score. He managed to win the third act by 6-4 booking a spot in the semis, thus keeping his bid for the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
Roger Federer had a harsh road against Adrian Mannarino. Aged 29, the Frenchman stood closely to Federer and stepped in strongly when the opportunity presented itself.
He won the opener by 6-4 threatening to end Federer's bid for an eighth title in Basel. But the Swiss shifted into a secret gear to clinch the next two sets on a cruise 6-1 6-3.
The defending champion, Marin Cilic, was involved in perhaps the most dramatic encounter of the tournament - an apparently easy job against Marton Fucsovics (100 ATP).
A match that surpassed the three-hour limit had Cilic as the winner of the opening set after a tie-break. The second act saw the Hungarian player raising his level to deliver waves of shock through Cilic's side. Eventually, he won the set by 7-5 to push the tie into a decider. A lot of back and forth happened but none of them was able to put the grip on it decisively.
It all went down to a tie-break where the most experienced player prevailed. Cilic is now even closer to defend his title.
The most one-sided match ended the day as David Goffin safely navigated past Jack Sock. The doubt persisted throughout the first set, but once the Belgian player put it away after a tie-break things went his way for the rest of the tie.
The stakes are different
The defending champion, Marin Cilic, will try to cement his top 5 presence over the next weeks. Basel is the right place to do so, especially with those points to defend. His next opponent though is chasing down a different slice of pie as he bids for a last-minute entrance for ATP Finals in London. Del Potro is also a two-time former Basel champion.
In the top half of the draw, Federer and Goffin are set to collide. The Belgian seeks to secure his presence for London while his next opponent got himself involved in a race against the clock to close the gap on Rafael Nadal.
