Hopefully an exciting final on tap in Basel! Here is my analysis and prediction.
I encourage others to make theirs! After all, none of us has a working crystal ball.
[1] Roger Federer (SUI) vs. [2] Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)Roger has come through
6 consecutive times this year against Juan on every surface, outdoors and indoors, and at every level, 500's to majors.
But some of them have been real, real close. Dubai was 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), Del Potro led 2 sets to love at Roland Garros before collapsing. And their last one at Wimbledon was one for the ages with Del Potro grabbing the first set and Federer taking the 2nd set tiebreaker and the 3rd set marathon set 19-17. Indoors at Rotterdam early this year was an easy win for Federer - 6-1, 6-4.
Del Potro has been playing well of late, winning the Vienna title last week, but hasn't met someone of Federer's caliber in a while.
Federer has been struggling a bit since Shanghai where he said he wasn't getting enough practice, but seems to be rounding into form in his last couple of efforts against Paire and Mathieu, especially his serve, which is key. In those last two matches he never faced a break point. This is the kind of serving he did in Cincinnati the whole tournament.
To sum up, I think this match indoors in Federer's back yard is on Federer's racquet. If Federer continues his excellent serving and controlled aggressive play as he has in the last couple of matches, Del Potro will be under extreme pressure on his own serve. If Federer's serve goes away for some reason, I think Del Potro can take advantage, but I don't see this happening now. Federer is trending better and he's playing indoors in front of his home crowd. Look for him to win in 2 sets, perhaps one more difficult and one easier. If Juan is playing very well, I could see the first set going to a tiebreaker. I'll predict:
Federer d. Del Potro 7-5, 6-3 Respectfully,
masterclass
