Federer Needs 3 Sets In Basel Opener Over Krajinovic
Roger Federer opened his fall indoor season in his home event in Basel, but despite being an 8-time champion, it was no easy day in a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over 2017 Paris finalist Filip Krajinovic.
Federer, who has won the Basel title the last 3 times he’s played, has now won his last 16 matches at the event.
“It was a bit more of a hard-fought victory, but they feel good too, especially knowing that I have the day off tomorrow, so it’s no problem having played three sets today,” Federer said.
“I didn’t serve very well today. I think I was misfiring the corners, I was not hitting the lines enough. Clearly you make your life more difficult, but still I was up 6-2, 3-1, break points, so things could have ended very quickly today, even though I didn’t have the best serve percentage stats. But maybe that’s exactly what caught up to me eventually,” Federer said.
“It’s just getting used to it. This is where the first rounds can be tricky.”
Federer will face Jan-Lennard Struff Thursday in the second round. Struff ousted Federer’s US Open conqueror John Millman in his first round.
Federer has won all three meetings with the German including two this year at the Australian and Wimbledon.
The 20th-ranked Daniil Medvedev was also a winner.
Tomorrow, newly-minted ATP champion Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Jeremy Chardy. Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic are also scheduled.
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