Federer wins 1st round Basel - just

ATP Basel

First round matches 

• Roger Federer (1) stepped out on court in Basel for the first time this tournament to begin his quest for title number nine in the Swiss town.

His opponent was Filip Krajinovic, and the second ranked Serb was anxious to perform well against the Swiss star.  Alas, that hope was put to bed rather early.  Although Federer’s first serve percentage was appalling (37%), Krajinovic was not much better at 45%, and at least Federer won all the points when he did find the box on first try.

Both players had two break chances but it was the top seed who converted his and won the set 6-2.

Set two saw a twist when Federer was broken twice and fell behind 3-5.  Krajinovic failed to serve out the set, broken to love by Federer, and the writing appeared to be on the wall.  However, Federer failed from the line a bewildering third time and dropped the set.

The deciding set had Federer in control once he achieved a 2-1 lead with a break.  Krajinovic missed a chance to break back in the sixth game, and also failed to capitalise on a game point in the next.  Federer eventually cracked through for a 5-2 advantage.

Once again the Swiss ace displayed his vulnerability, as has been the case in the second half of 2018, and couldn’t serve out the match.  He had a second try at 5-4.

At 0-30 alarm bells were ringing, but Roger Federer managed to scrape through on his second match point 6-2 4-6 6-4

• Jan-Lennard Struff defeated John Millman 7-6(3) 6-2
• Peter Gojowczyk defeated Nicolas Jarry 1-6 7-5 6-3
• Andreas Seppi defeated qualifier Taro Daniel 6-0 6-4
• Daniil Medvedev (7) defeated Maximilian Marterer 6-3 7-5
• 19 year old Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin, ranked 174, defeated fellow Aussie Matthew Ebden 7-6(4) 6-4.  Apart from the Australian Open this year, where he received a wildcard, Basel is the first main draw ATP Tour tournament for Alexei.
• Gilles Simon defeated Leonardo Mayer 6-3 6-3

ATP Vienna 

First round matches

• Dominic Thiem (1) defeated qualifier Ruben Bemelmans 7-5 7-6(5)
• Kei Nishikori (5) defeated Frances Tiafoe 7-6(3) 5-7 6-2
• Fabio Fognini (7) defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-4 6-3
• Fernando Verdasco defeated qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-7(6) 6-3 6-4
• John Isner (4) defeated lucky loser Cameron Norrie 6-7(1) 6-4 7-6(7)
• Lucas Pouille defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4
• Sam Querrey defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 3-6 6-3