Swiss Indoors: Can Roger Federer prevail at home?
Roger Federer will look to stamp his authority in Basel
With the Swiss Indoors beginning on Monday, home hero Roger Federer will be looking to continue his quest to regain the World no. 1 spot. Rafael Nadal will be taking part in the tournament too after a gap of 10 years, desperately seeking some reassurance.
Nadal has been suffering from appendicitis and will be looking to have a surgery done after the tournament. The 28-year-old Spaniard looks determined to at least make an attempt at an appearance for the Swiss fans.
Roger Federer will start his campaign against Gilles Muller, the 31-year-old from Luxembourg, while Rafa starts off against a qualifier who has not been named yet.
There is another big Swiss threat in the tournament in the form of Stan Wawrinka, who just recently qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals. He starts his campaign against Mikhail Kukushkin, who had reached the semi-finals of the Moscow Open last week.
No cakewalks for the top seeds
Federer will have his task cut out as he faces a potential match up with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the 2nd round. Dimitrov, who is in the race to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals, has really impressed with his form lately. He lost in the final of the Stockholm Open against Tomas Berdych, and faces wildcard entry Alexander Zverev in his first round.
Milos Raonic is also in the race to qualify for the finals. He is seeded #4 for this tournament and starts his campaign against American Steve Johnson. Ernests Gulbis, David Goffin and Ivo Karlovic are seeded 6, 7, 8 respectively.
All eyes will be on Federer as he looks to win the Swiss Indoors for the 6th time. Will he be stopped by the Bulgarian Dimitrov or by his arch nemesis Nadal, or will he continue his brilliant form and notch up another title?