Advertisement

'Absolute magic': Disbelief over 'ridiculous' Roger Federer moment

Sam Goodwin
·Sports Editor

Roger Federer has delighted his home tennis fans with a moment of absolute magic at the Swiss Indoor tournament in Basel.

Ruthless Federer stayed on course for a 10th title at his hometown event, dropping just three games in crushing Moldova's Radu Albot on Wednesday.

MORE HISTORY: Federer reaches insane milestone in first-round victory

The 38-year-old, who has lost six games so far in the tournament, dispatched his hapless opponent in only 62 minutes, winning the second-round match 6-0 6-3.

And it was an insane moment in the first game of the second set that had fans and commentators reaching for the superlatives.

Roger Federer, pictured here hitting an insane winner at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Roger Federer produced this moment of magic. Image: Getty/Tennis TV

Federer was forced way out of court by a drop volley from Albot, but produced a near-impossible backhand winner while on the run.

He somehow managed to get enough height to get the ball over the net and enough dip to land it inside the baseline.

[Join or create a 2019 Yahoo Fantasy Basketball league for free today]

In remarkable scenes, Federer didn’t even see his shot land in because he finished up behind the umpire’s chair.

“That is a moment of absolute magic,” one commentator said on Tennis TV.

Fans were also on disbelief.

De Minaur progresses as well

Australia's Alex de Minaur continued his dominance over Taylor Fritz with a 6-3 6-3 win and improved to 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

The 20-year-old, who also defeated Fritz in the Atlanta final in July, racked up 10 break points and converted four to advance after 1 hour and 17 minutes.

He'll play Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarter-finals after the German defeated Swiss Henri Laaksonen 6-3 6-4.

For Federer it was a 22nd consecutive win at the tournament.

He has won the title on the past four occasions he has taken part in Basel.

Albot gave Federer a tough time at the Miami Open earlier this year, losing in three sets in the second round, but offered little resistance this time.

Roger Federer, pictured here in action at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Roger Federer in action in Basel. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

"I really struggled against him in Miami and he definitely got my attention there. I was basically a point away from losing," said Federer.

"I think I learned a lot from that match."

"I really respect Radu. He tries everything to win in a really tough and great and fair way. I'm very happy with the way I played. I had an answer for everything he threw at me today and that's great."

Federer's fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka comfortably beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-3 6-4 in the first round, hammering 30 winners and serving 10 aces along the way.

David Goffin, who had lost his previous three matches to Marin Cilic, ended that run with a 6-4 6-4 win in a first-round match.

The Belgian is now a strong contender for one of the two remaining places at the end-of-season finals in London.

Goffin fired 11 aces, compared to four for the usually big-serving Cilic, and converted all three of his break points as he claimed his first win over the Croatian since 2016.

with AAP