Simon pushes Federer to limit

The quarter finals in both Vienna and Basel have been played, with a few surprises

ATP Basel

Quarter finals 

• Qualifier Marius Copil defeated wildcard Taylor Fritz 7-6(6) 7-5
• Sascha Zverev (2) defeated Roberto Bautista Agut (8) 7-5 6-3
• Roger Federer (1) is struggling to find his best form, and although he defeated Gilles Simon, it took three sets.   

Simon led 5-2 in the first, and was serving for it at 5-3 but was broken.  He had a set point at 5-4 before an ace from Federer erased that, and the top seed eventually took the set in a tie break.

Federer was broken three times in the second set, the third allowing Simon to level the match.  And in the decider, Roger let a 4-1 lead slip, broken In the sixth game by the Frenchman.

Gilles had a first serve percentage less than fifty, yet was able to match it with Roger, so while the Swiss ace was travelling at slightly below top gear, Simon was playing possibly his best tennis for some time.

Federer escaped with the win, breaking Simon in the tenth game when Gilles had a 40-15 lead.

7-6(1) 4-6 6-4, but it will require something better in Paris - he is drawn to play Anderson in the quarters and Djokovic in the semis there

• Daniil Medvedev (7) defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) 6-4 3-6 6-3, and will play Roger Federer in the semis 

ATP Vienna 

Quarter finals 

• Kei Nishikori (5) defeated Dominic Thiem (1) 6-3 6-1
• Qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin defeated Marton Fucsovics 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(4), and will play Kei Nishikori in the semis 
• Kevin Anderson (2) defeated Borna Coric (6) 7-6(2) 1-2 (retired)
• Fernando Verdasco defeated Gaël Monfils 6-4 2-1 (retired), and will play Kevin Anderson in the semis