Roger Federer didn’t hide his enthusiasm for possibly facing his dear friend Stan Wawrinka in the quarters in Basel, but that, unfortunately, will not happen as Stan had to withdraw from the tournament.
Wawrinka’s injury
The Swiss no.2 won a fantastic battle against Frances Tiafoe (6-3, 3-6, 7-5), but unfortunately he got injured in the very last game to his back. After his match against the American, Stan commented:
“The bad news is that I will have to retire. I had some trouble with my back in the last game. I’m sure I cannot make it for tomorrow. I will pull out.”
Federer in the semi-final after playing only 2 hours
With Stan retiring from the quarters, Federer will receive a decisive boost to win his 10th title in Basel. In fact, besides the fact that the Swiss legend is playing marvelous tennis, he has spent just 2 hours on court during this tournament so far following 2 easy wins in the first 2 rounds. It was Federer that revealed how important it is for him to spend not much time on court comparing his first-round win to a soft practice in terms of stress to his body.
H2H. Tsitsipas or Krajinovic in the semifinal?
Roger will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or an in-form Filip Krajinovic in the semifinal. The H2H against the Greek is 1-all (see full stats), while the Swiss has a 3-0 win-loss record against Krajinovic (see full stats). While it is plausible that Stefanos will be the one to play Federer, you can’t count out the Serbian that is playing really great tennis in the last few weeks following his final in Stockholm and the fact that he has conceded no sets so far in Basel.
Federer in Basel, ranking, and results in 2019
Ranked no.3, the Swiss has a 47-8 win-loss record in 2019. Federer is playing at the moment in Basel where he ousted Peter Gojowczyk 6-2 6-1 and Radu Albot 6-0 6-3.
Federer was meant to play Wawrinka in the quarter. The head to head is 23-3 for Federer.
The last time that they played, Federer won 7-64 4-6 7-65 6-4 in the quarter in Roland Garros in 04th June 2019.
Roger conquered 3 titles in 2019 in Dubai, in Miami and in Halle. Roger was the finalist in Indian Wells and in Wimbledon.
The Swiss won 102 titles in his career: 47 on hard courts, 11 on clay courts, 20 on indoor courts, 5 on carpet courts and 19 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Tsitsipas in Basel, ranking, and results in 2019
Ranked no.7, Stefanos has a 46-22 win-loss record in 2019. Tsitsipas is currently playing in Basel where he beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3 7-66 and Richard Berankis 6-74 6-2 6-4.
The Greek will come up against Krajinovic in the quarter. The head to head is 1-0 for Tsitsipas.
The last time that they competed against each other, Tsitsipas won 7-5 6-3 6-75 7-66 in the 3rd round in Roland Garros in 01st June 2019.
Tsitsipas clinched 2 titles in 2019 in Marseille and in Estoril. Tsitsipas was the finalist in Dubai, in Madrid and in Beijing.
Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas played each other 3 times. The head to head is 2-1 for Federer.
