BASEL 2015: Roger Wins Federer-Nadal XXXIV 6-3 5-7 6-3 To Claim 88th ATP Title

As I predicted yesterday, Roger Federer was able to beat Rafael Nadal in their 34th career meeting. The match was actually quite close, with one break of serve deciding each set, as the final score of 6-3 5-7 6-3 demonstrates. Play lasted just over 2 hours and the rallies were often long and intense.

Federer's win stopped a three and a half-year drought of success against his most famous rival (he had lost the last 5 matches he played against Nadal). However, this match was literally played on Federer's turf (indoor hardcourt in his home town of Basel). The Swiss Great was playing in his twelfth final in Basel, and with the win earned his seventh title here and 88th career ATP title. He now improves to 11-23 against Nadal and 88-46 in career finals while Nadal falls to 67-31 in career finals.

By reaching the final (and beating Richard Gasquet) to do so Nadal set the field for the ATP Year-Ending Championship in two weeks in London will have the same eight players it did last year and made the result of whoever wins the ATP Paris Masters this week irrelevant to that race. (Novak Djokovic clinched the Year-End #1 earlier in the season when he won his 3rd major of the year at the U.S. Open.) However, Nadal's improved play on one of his worst surfaces (indoor hard courts) may augur good things for an upside in his fortunes in 2016.