By Chris Oddo

(October 24, 2012)--Roger Federer lost a tiebreaker at his hometown tournament for only the second time in six years, but he rebounded with a late break in the final set to edge Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-5 in Basel, Switzerland on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old has lost only one of his last 32 matches at the indoor event, and he is seeking his sixth title there.

On Wednesday Federer found himself tested to the limit against a hard-hitting lefty that has troubled him before.

After taking an early 3-0 lead, Federer faced two break points when serving out the first set. He managed to escape, finishing off the set with a vintage serve-and-volley point that led to a casual backhand volley which Federer swept into the open court for a winner.

But things got tricky in the second set, as both players did a magnificent job of protecting their serve; Federer lost only three points on his first serve, while the Brazilian kept pace by losing only four.

In the tiebreaker, Bellucci jumped out to a 6-2 lead only to see Federer save four set points to level at six apiece.

But Bellucci stood tall to the challenge, taking the next two point to force the decider.

Federer pressured Bellucci in the early going of the final set, but failed to convert a break point during Bellucci's first service game of the set.

But with the Brazilian serving to force a third set tiebreaker, Federer finally struck the decisive blow. After Bellucci's first double fault of the match opened up a window, Federer opened it further when he caught the lefty with an inside-in forehand down the line that he couldn't retrieve for 15-30.

Two Bellucci errors later, it was over, much to the delight of the packed house at the the magnificent St. Jakobshalle Arena.

Federer will continue his quest for a seventh ATP World Tour title in the quarterfinals, where he will meet the winner of tomorrow's Benoit Paire-Lukasz Kubot match. The World No. 1’s only loss at Basel in the last six years came in the 2009 final when he was upended by Novak Djokovic. He owns a 45-7 career record at his hometown event.

Elsewhere in Basel, Juan Martin del Potro advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 Alejandro Falla, while Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Gasquet each reached the quarterfinals with wins over Julien Benneteau and Marco Chiudinelli respectively.

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(Photo Credit: AP)