Roger Federer wins fourth Swiss Indoors title
Roger Federer reclaimed the Swiss Indoors title from Novak Djokovic on Sunday, 7 November, overcoming the Serb 6–4 3–6 6–1.
Djokovic, who won the tournament last year, failed to play up par against Federer, who will be disappointed that he couldn't produce the same form in the semi-finals of the US Open in September, where
the Swiss lost to Djokovic after a dramatic five-setter.
"It is even more special to win again at home," said Federer, who won three consecutive Swiss Open titles between 2006 and 2008. "It's always tough to play Novak. We've met so many times and he knows my
game and how to beat me. He had a great week here."
Meant business early on
Federer showed his class early on, landing ssome impressive returns on Djokovic's serve and earning two break points in the first game, but the Swiss failed to capitalize on either one.
It was then the World number two's to defend a break from Djokovic in the second game. Federer fended the Serb off and finally broke his serve in the third game of the match.
Djokovic had an easy backhand to hit, but couldn't get it to clear the net, after which Federer pounced.
Having done so, the Swiss served and attacked Djokovic with impressive baseline shots on his service, letting a backhand drop agonisingly short for his opponent to earn a 3–1 lead in the set.
Federer, whose last title came at the Stockholm Open on 24 October, then looked steady on his serve, holding every game to claim the first set 6–4.
Djokovic then seemed on his way back into the final at the start of the second set as Federer produced an unusual amount of unforced errors to let the world number three break.
The Serb earned a 3–0 lead in front of Federer's home crowd, holding off the Swiss to claim the set 6–3.
Djokovic loses focus
In the deciding set, Djokovic's concentration appeared to fail him. Federer would have broken in the second game had he only managed to convert a simple volley. But Djokovic hung on, only to gift his opponent
a break point in the fourth game.
The Basel fans seemed to unnerve Djokovic as he was serving to defend the break point. The 23-year-old stopped to regain his composure only to hit a double fault for Federer to go up 3–1.
After that early mishap, Federer won every game to claim the 65th singles title of his career.
The victory made him the fourth most successful player in history, overtaking Pete Sampras in the rankings but still trailing Jimmy Connors with 109 titles to his name.
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