Federer, Del Potro, Cilic advance to Basel quarterfinals

Posted October 26, 2017 7:00 am

The Associated Press

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) - Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro both eased into the Swiss Indoors quarterfinals by beating French opponents in straight sets on Thursday.

Top-seeded Federer cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 win over 40th-ranked Benoit Paire in 57 minutes.

Federer took his second match-point chance on Paire's serve, approaching the net to hit a forehand crosscourt winner.

Federer has not faced a break point this week in two matches at his hometown event in Basel. He next plays another Frenchman, seventh-seeded Adrian Mannarino.

Mannarino advanced to Friday's quarterfinals after beating Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Fourth-seeded Del Potro, a two-time Basel champion, beat Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-4 and stayed on course to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals lineup in London next month.

Also Thursday, Marin Cilic, the second-seeded defending champion, beat 54th-ranked Borna Coric 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to improve to 5-0 against his Croatian compatriot.

Cilic will play Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics in the quarterfinals. Fucsovics advanced when opponent Leonardo Mayer retired when trailing 3-0 in the first set.

Croatia's Marin Cilic returns a ball to Croatia's Borna Coric during their round of sixteen match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP) The Associated Press

Article Comments

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.