A visit to the Swiss Indoors Basel is more worthwhile than ever this year. Roger Federer (ATP 2) and Rafael Nadal (ATP 1) - the world number one, who have shared all four Grand Slam titles this season - will both be competing from October 21! There has only ever been so much superstar flair in the history of the traditional tournament: in 1998, when Pete Sampras (1) and Pat Rafter (2) led the field.
The duel between the two tennis titans promises pure excitement. Nadal, who opens the tournament after Amy Macdonald's musical prelude at 5.30 p.m. on Monday, wants to defend his No. 1 ranking until the end of the year. Local hero Federer, who is the only one who can still threaten the Spaniard, will play on Tuesday. Both can score full points in Basel, as they retired early in 2016 due to bad luck with injuries. "Unfortunately, these are the unpredictable tides of top-class sport," says Tournament Director Roger Brennwald, who is now hoping for better luck.
But of course he has other hot irons in the fire: the Croatian defending champion Marin Cilic (ATP 5), the two-time Basel champion and crowd favorite Juan Martin del Potro (Arg, ATP 24) or, for the first time, the fiery Australian Nick Kyrgios (ATP 20).
A fresh breeze is blowing through the St. Jakobshalle with shooting star Denis Schapovalov (Ka, 18) and Frances Tiafoe (19). However, the US hopeful - currently ranked 74th - has to go through the qualification mill. The cut-off of the entry list is ATP rank 53 - that's how concentrated the power density of this year's Swiss Indoors Basel is!
SWISS INDOORS
October 21 to 29, 2017, St. Jakobshalle Basel
TICKETS
