Federer says, “It’s my 200th semi-finals on the tour”

The Swiss legend, Roger Federer had progressed to the last four of the Swiss Indoors event in Basel. The eight-time Basel champion, Federer is aiming to seize his 99th ATP title.  The World Number 3 tennis player wrapped up a 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-4 quarter-final victory over Frenchman Gilles Simon. Federer saved a set point and further dominated the tie-break in the opening set. In the second set, there were five breaks of serves Simon breezed to equal the match. And very soon Federer won the decider. After his arduously slamming the tennis ball for two hours and 34 minutes, the 37-year-old Federer will face the Russian Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal of his hometown tournament. This year Medvedev has won as many matches as Juan Martin del Potro. Moving towards Federer’s 200th semi-finals appearance on the tour he is excited to achieve a special milestone in his career.

Federer has reached every final of the Basel event since 2006 (except in the year 2016, where he called of that season). The last time he lost in the quarters was 19 years ago. He surrendered to an 18-year-old against Britain’s Tim Henman. He has only lost once in 14 previous semi-finals matches.“I’m very excited. Apparently, it’s my 200th semi-finals on the tour. I’m also very excited that it’s here in Basel.”

It’s always a momentous notion to play and win in the presence of your native crowd. Federer has won innumerable laurels for Switzerland, but however, every point won on the courts of Basel makes him feel special. “I really enjoyed it. I think I also showed emotions, I was trying to pump myself up”, he said after his quarterfinal victory. “It’s an absolute pleasure playing on home soil with the crowd supporting me so much. I think they felt like I was in danger, and it was nice that they were there every step of the way”.