STARNBERG, June 7, 2021
The Swiss Indoors Basel has been canceled for the second straight year due to constraints placed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The ATP and Swiss Indoors Basel organizers announced as much on the weekend.
The tournament was set to take place from October 25 to October 31 but challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis have made it so the holders have opted to forego.
The ATP event has long attracted huge crowds and is well known for its hospitality. It was canceled in 2020 and was expected to bounce back this year. However, the uncertainty as it pertains to the pandemic posed lots of problems as there was no way to effectively prepare for what the organizers would hope was a successful tourney.
“It’s disappointing that due to the ongoing challenges of the global pandemic, and despite the efforts and commitment of the tournament team to find solutions, the Swiss Indoors Basel will not be going ahead in 2021. We look forward to the tournament returning as one of our most celebrated indoor events in 2022,” ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said.
“It’s with a heavy heart that the decision has been taken, together with ATP, to cancel this year’s tournament,” President of the Swiss Indoors Basel, Roger Brennwald, said. “Our focus is now on staging a safe and successful event in 2022, under conditions that we hope will offer us greater certainty across our operations. We look forward to welcoming back players and our passionate fans next year.”
In some more negative news, Roger Federer has pulled out of the French Open despite reaching the fourth round. The Swiss tennis star came out on top after playing for three hours and 35 minutes against German Dominik Koepfer ahead of what would have been a match against ninth-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini on Monday. However, Berrettini will get to move on to the quarter-final without playing.
Federer cited knee issues for his opting out of the tournament.
“After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it’s important that I listen to my body and make sure I don’t push myself too quickly on my road to recovery,” he said. “I am thrilled to have gotten three matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court.”
Federer has only played in three tournaments since January 2020 and, prior to his statement, revealed he wants to focus on Wimbledon, leading to suggestions he could pull out of the French Open.
“We go through these matches, we analyze them highly and look on what’s next,” he said.
“We will do the same here on Sunday, because I need to decide if I keep on playing or not. Is it not too much risk at this moment to keep on pushing or is this just a perfect way to just take a rest?”
Another complaint as it pertains to the tournament, in general, is the late start times. There were no fans watching from the stands while Federer competed due to the 9 pm curfew implemented by the France government.
“I think these night matches start too late,” Laura Robson, a former British No.1, said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “They have got a very quick turnaround before their next match, probably get back to their hotel between 2am and 3am, then have to reset.
“It is not easy, especially when your next opponent has long been gone.
“I can’t imagine this is what Federer was expecting when he walked out on the court, to be there so late. It is one other thing to worry about. Less recovery time and less sleep, with Berrettini to come.”
Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas is in the quarterfinals after a dominant performance over Pablo Carreno Busta. Tsitsipas made it to the semi-final in Paris last year and will hope to reach as far again following his two-hour and six-minute match against Carreno Busta.
The win marked a 20th clay-court triumph for the 22-year-old, who is now set to face Danil Medvedev in his next match. The Greek is 10/3 to win the Roland Garros this year, behind only Novak Djokovic (7/2) and outright favorite Rafael Nadal (8/11). Punters looking to bet on the event could check out this review of some of the most popular betting calculators available online.
“My performance was good. I was very mentally there in every single game,” the Greek said. “Whether I was serving or not, I was very concentrated in the procedure, in the process.”
“I think every single match that I had against him was a learning experience,” he said of his opponent. “I had high expectations for him, and that’s a good thing, going into the match having high expectations [for] your opponent,” Tsitsipas said. “I think I also had a great start, very good start, where I didn’t let him attack a lot. I actually gave him not that much space to get going.”
