Roger Federer won his first title at the age of 38 when he lifted a record tenth title at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, his home tournament where he started as a ball boy. This was his fourth title of the year and the 103rd ATP trophy of his career.
The world No 3 raced to the title without dropping a set, beating young Australian Alex De Minaur 6-2, 6-2 in the final after crushing Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis.
Cheered on my a fervent crowd with his entire family in the stands, the 38-year-old had to control his emotions as he drew a loud and heartfelt standing ovation from his home public during the presentation.
“You don’t get to win 10 titles at the same venue very often in a career – if ever. I couldn’t be happier that I was able to do it here in Basel. It’s been a great week, fans were wonderful, like in other years,” he said.
Federer’s 10 Basel titles tie the 10 he owns at Halle, the grass-court tournament in Germany he won earlier this year. Sunday’s victory was his 75th victory in Basel and extended his win streak at his hometown tournament to 24 matches, with his last loss at the event coming in the 2013 final to Juan Martin del Potro.
Here’s a look at some of the interesting statistics from Federer’s ‘La Decima’ in Basel:
Federer becomes first #atptour player to win 10 titles on 2 different surfaces:
— Roger Laver (@DonaldTendulkar) October 27, 2019
10 on grass Halle
and 10 on hardcourt at Basel.#BaselOpen #Federer
Brings up 1,500 matches on tour, secures 50 victories in a calendar year for a record 16th time, wins a 103rd career title and an unprecedented 10th title at his home event.
— bet365 (@bet365) October 27, 2019
A week in the life of Roger Federer. The greatest. pic.twitter.com/GR3bweQ8Om
PERFECT TEN IN BASEL FOR FEDERER
— GameSetMatch 🎾 (@Tennis20MAD) October 27, 2019
- 10th #SwissIndoors title
- 24th consecutive win in Basel
- 4th title of 2019
- 103rd career singles title
Just treasure these moments, Fed fans.
The last time Federer played Basel and failed to reach the final, Coco Gauff was minus 6 months old.
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) October 26, 2019
2003: Lost in R16
2004: DNP
2005: DNP
2006: W
2007: W
2008: W
2009: F
2010: W
2011: W
2012: F
2013: F
2014: W
2015: W
2016: DNP
2017: W
2018: W
2019: W or F#SwissIndoorsBasel
Federer on a 24 matches winning streak in Basel.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) October 27, 2019
Federer, at 38, still producing something new: It's the first time he's won the title at home in Basel without dropping a set.
— Ravi Ubha (@raviubha) October 27, 2019
Open era men's leaders
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) October 27, 2019
Singles titles
1 Connors 109
2 Federer 103
Singles finals
1 Connors 164
2 Federer 157
Singles semifinals
1 Connors 240
2 Federer 209
Singles matches played
1 Connors 1556
2 Federer 1503
Singles matches won
1 Connors 1274
2 Federer 1235
Roger Federer career finals: 157
— enrico maria riva (@enricomariariva) October 26, 2019
Alex de Minaur career atp matches: 107
No.1 seed @RogerFederer claims a 10th #SwissIndoorsBasel title with a 62 62 victory over Alex de Minaur in the final. Federer, now 75-9 at Basel, has claimed his 4th title of the season.
— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) October 27, 2019
Les 103 titres de Roger Federer par saison
— Quentin Moynet (@QuentinMoynet) October 27, 2019
2001 : 1🏆
2002 : 3 🏆
2003 : 7 🏆
2004 : 11 🏆
2005 : 11 🏆
2006 : 12 🏆
2007 : 8 🏆
2008 : 4 🏆
2009 : 4 🏆
2010 : 5 🏆
2011 : 4 🏆
2012 : 6 🏆
2013 : 1 🏆
2014 : 5 🏆
2015 : 6 🏆
2016 : ❌
2017 : 7 🏆
2018 : 4 🏆
2019 : 4 🏆
alex #deminaur was the 344th #federer opponent in his 1,503 official matches pic.twitter.com/mpyWW5Xu5E
— Luca Brancher (@LucaBeck) October 27, 2019
#10! @rogerfederer : „I would have never thought to win here 10 times, not even one, so it‘s very special! Thank you everyone, hope to see you all next year!“ And yes, we shed a tear or two as well... #legend #SupportTheSwiss #StandingOvation pic.twitter.com/FylsnRBrBM
— Swiss Tennis (@swiss_tennis) October 27, 2019
Roger Federer: 1️⃣ of a kind, no matter how many zeros you put behind it...#SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/RoZypis09D
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) October 27, 2019
It was 2013 and Roger Federer was a runner up at Basel and everyone thought this was it so they gave him 2 minutes long standing ovation.
— 💯 + 3️⃣ (@rogerbestbystat) October 27, 2019
It’s 2019 and Roger Federer just won his 10th title and everyone gave him a standing ovation with tears is his eyes 😭
He never gives up! pic.twitter.com/eM8cWNrJFm
26 years later, still making memories in Basel 😊🏆@rogerfederer #SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/PhwmR8neHH
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 27, 2019