ATP roundup: Federer claims 99th title

[October 29, 2018]    Roger Federer held off Romanian qualifier Marius Copil 7-6 (5), 6-4 for the 99th title of his storied career, winning the Swiss Indoors Basel in Switzerland on Sunday.

Copil put the pressure on with an early break, but Federer rallied to get even and eventually take the tiebreak. Federer also fell behind 4-1 in the second set before breaking Copil twice to close out the one-hour, 34-minute match.

The top-seeded Swiss star and hometown hero has now won the event nine times. It was the 20th consecutive match he's won at Basel and boosts his overall record in the event to 71-9.

"To come through and win again here in my hometown, never knowing if this might be your last time that you had the opportunity to play a final, maybe win for the last time here in my city, it obviously means a lot to me and it becomes very emotional," Federer said.

Federer, 37, now sits just 10 behind Jimmy Connors' record of 109 singles titles.

Copil, ranked No. 93 in the world, was playing in his second final of the year and will rise to a career high when the new rankings are released.

"It was an amazing week," the 28-year-old Copil said afterward. "Coming here, I was fighting in order to play and to stay in the Top 100. ... After this amazing week, I've just gained a lot of confidence in myself and I saw that I can play a much higher level of tennis and I could keep it up."

Federer will play in the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London from Nov. 11-18 as he seeks a seventh title there. If he succeeds, it will be his first since 2011.

Erste Bank Open 500

South Africa's Kevin Anderson beat fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-3, 7-6 (3) to win the title in Vienna, Austria and book his spot in the Nitto ATP Finals.

It's the first time the second-seeded Anderson has qualified for the season-ending event.

"It has been a huge goal of mine all year to make it to London. I have said that right from the beginning," said Anderson. "To finally put my name there feels fantastic."

Nishikori remains in the hunt for a spot in the finals, but sits 325 points out of the eighth and final place.

Anderson improved to 3-4 lifetime against Nishikori, who has lost the last nine times he has appeared in a championship match.

--Field Level Media

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