Tennis great Roger Federer said his title-win at Swiss Indoors on Sunday, October 28 made him emotional as he admitted he is not sure if he will be able to play and win a title in his hometown — Basel again in his career.
The 37-year-old was unable to control his emotions after the straight-set win over qualifier Marius Copil in the final of the ATP 500 tournament. Federer was made to work hard during his title defence but he managed to dig deep and thereby win his 99th career title.
Federer was pushed to the limits in the final as well Copil forced a tie-breaker in the first set before taking a 4-1 lead in the second. The inspired Romanian's booming serves and lobs created tension St Jakobshalle but the local favourite won five straight games to complete another memorable win.
"It's very difficult for me to explain how it feels like. Just walking out for a Basel final was always my dream, already just playing on centre court was a thrill," Federer said.
"To come here and win again in my hometown never knowing if this might be your last time that you had the opportunity to play a final and maybe win for the last time here in my city, it obviously means a lot to me and becomes emotional always at the very end.
"I've been celebrating already, had a great time - a lot of kids running around, cousins and family and friends. It's been a super long time, everybody's here! It's always more fun when you can celebrate in a big group."
Federer hasn't fixed a retirement date but it's unlikely he will continue playing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The 20-time Grand Slam champion though has been carefully planning his stops on the tour ever since he returned from a knee injury in 2017.
It remains to be seen if he will play Paris Masters — the season's final Masters 1000 tournament, starting Monday. While Federer hasn't withdrawn from the tournament officially, speculations are rife that he might choose to skip the tournament in order to keep himself fresh for the season-ending ATP Tour Finals, starting November 11.
The world number three, who is unlikely to finish the year any higher than his current ranking, hadn't been in the best of form but the Swiss Indoors title should give him a lot of confidence.
Federer will be battling with the likes of in-form Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in London in his bid to win a seventh ATP Finals title.
"Maybe I had to win it through good returning, through fighting and all that stuff, so maybe differently than some of my past tournament victories," Federer said.
"But winning is fun, winning gives you confidence and that's what I'll need if I want to do well in London and beat the best over there, so I hope that this confidence I gained from here is going to help me there."
