Tennis

Roger Federer puts on clinic to win 10th Swiss Indoors title

Mixing speeds and angles with powerful ground strokes, an efficient Roger Federer defeated Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-2 in 68 minutes on Sunday for his 10th Swiss Indoors title.

Dominic Thiem also wins home tournament in Vienna

Roger Federer returns a ball to Alex De Minaur in the Swiss Indoors final on Sunday in Basel. Federer earned his 10th event title and fourth of 2019 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Roger Federer won his hometown Swiss Indoors title for the 10th time by beating Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.

The 38-year-old Federer put on a tennis clinic in his first match against the 20-year-old Australian, who was not born when the Swiss great turned professional and first played at Basel in 1998. 

Mixing speeds and angles with powerful ground strokes, Federer clinched on his first match point when De Minaur pushed a forehand wide.

Federer's 10th Basel title was one of his most efficient. He did not drop a set in four matches played, and was never pushed to a tiebreaker.

WATCH | Federer wins his hometown tournament for a 10th time:

Federer claims 10th title in hometown of Basel

5 years ago
Duration 1:28
Roger Federer beats Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-2 to win his hometown Swiss Indoors title for the 10th time.

Sunday's final took just 68 minutes, and Federer's longest match all week lasted 79 minutes.

"It was fast but very nice. I think I played a great match," Federer said. "I was great on the offence, made very few unforced errors and came up with the big shots and served well when I had to."

103rd career title

"I was really hoping that Roger was going to get sick of winning here and give someone else a chance," De Minaur said during the trophy ceremony. "Too good again, that was amazing."

Federer's fourth title in 2019 is the 103rd of his career. De Minaur has 100 fewer titles and won all three previous finals he played this season.

Praising his 28th-ranked opponent, Federer predicted "so many more things to come for you. You are going up from here."

Federer forced the first break of service leading 2-1 in the first set, though only after De Minaur saved one chance in a 39-shot rally. It ended when Federer pushed a backhand wide.

Federer clinched the break by finishing the next point with a clinical overhead crosscourt volley for a winner.

24-match streak on Basel's centre court

He forced two set points on his opponent's serve and took the second when De Minaur netted a forehand.

Federer also broke De Minaur's next service game in the second set, taking his third break chance. A forehand passing shot from behind the baseline left De Minaur flat-footed at the net.

De Minaur earned some respite saving another break chance at 4-1, and even put rare pressure on Federer's serve at 0-30 in the next game. Federer quickly took back control with a backhand half-volley passing shot.

Federer extended his winning streak to 24 matches on Basel's centre court at St. Jakobhalle, where he has not lost since the 2013 final against Juan Martin del Potro.

Thiem also wins home tournament in Vienna

Top seed Dominic Thiem survived an early scare and fought back from a set down to beat Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 3-6 6-4 6-3 and win his first Vienna Open title on Sunday.

Austria's Thiem, ranked number five in the world, was roared on by the home crowd as the 26-year-old became the first player to win five titles this season following triumphs in Indian Wells, Barcelona, Kitzbuehel and Beijing.

Despite the home support overwhelmingly in favor of Thiem, it was Schwartzman who set the early tempo, attacking the Austrian's backhand to break him three times.

WATCH | Thiem wins in Vienna:

Dominic Thiem claims 5th ATP Tour trophy of 2019

5 years ago
Duration 1:58
Austria's Dominic Thiem wins the Erste Bank Open on home soil with 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Diego Schwartzman.

Thiem's change in strategy from baseline rallies to rushing the net did not deter Schwartzman, who wrapped up the opening set in 43 minutes to silence the fans at the Wiener Stadthalle arena.

However, Thiem found his feet in the second and came back from 2-3 down, saving a break point and converting one at 4-4, to force the match into a deciding set.

A break of serve in the opening game gave Thiem an early advantage and he broke Schwartzman for the fourth time on match point, lying down on the court in relief as he soaked up the rapturous applause.

With files from Reuters