Seven-time champion Roger Federer will bid to pass Ivan Lendl and move into sole possession of 2nd on the ATP’s all-time title list at this week’s Swiss Indoors Basel.
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And the kids will be out to stop him.
Federer will first face 19-year-old Frances Tiafoe, the rising star that pushed the Swiss maestro to five sets in the first round at the U.S. Open this summer.
If Federer survives he’ll face either Steve Johnson or Benoit Paire in the second round before he could meet Denis Shapovalov in the quarterfinals. Of course, the 18-year-old Canadian will have his work cut out for him as he faces Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in the first round. Sugita won his first ATP title earlier this season and he has more than doubled Shapovalov’s win total in 2017.
If the seeds hold, Federer will face No.7-seeded Adrian Mannarino in the quarterfinals and either No.3-seeded David Goffin or No.5-seeded Jack sock in the semis.
View the full draw here:
In the lower half of the draw defending champion and No.2 seed Marin Cilic opens with Fernando Verdasco while No.4-seeded Juan Martin del Potro will look to keep his winning ways alive when he meets Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the first round.
If the seeds hold in the lower half, Cilic will face No.8-seeded Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinals, while two-time champion Del Potro will face No.6-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut.