Roger Federer confirms tournament appearance... but Rafael Nadal is STILL set to miss it
ROGER FEDERER has officially confirmed his appearance at the Swiss Indoors, his home tournament in Basel.
The Swiss is the defending champion at the St Jakobshalle having beaten Juan Martin del Potro in a gruelling final last year to secure his eighth title.
The surface is one of Federer’s strongest and he holds the record for most titles and most final appearances (13) at the tournament.
And Federer, who’ll be 37 when this year’s edition comes around, has today been confirmed for yet another appearance as tickets for the competition went on sale earlier this morning.
Marin Cilic, 2017 finalist Del Potro, David Goffin and Denis Shapovalov are all also set to take part in the tournament - but one high profile name remains absent.
Rafael Nadal signed a three-year deal worth more than £1million that commenced in 2014 to play the Swiss Indoors.
But he has only appeared twice since and has not been mentioned in the official release of names in Basel today.
The current world No 1, who is about to embark upon his favoured clay-court season, has often struggled on indoor surfaces and the timing of the competition could also be a stumbling block.
Nadal has often struggled to finish his season injury-free: 2017 was no different as he pulled out of both the Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour Finals during the tournament.
And with the 2018 Swiss Indoors running from October 20 to 28, Nadal will likely opt to avoid the Basel tournament, which is only worth 500 ATP points, and instead focus on the more high-value events.
Federer remains contracted to play at the St Jakobshalle, which is due to be renamed “Roger Federer Arena” but organisers hinted as early as last year that they might once again be denied a showdown with Nadal.
“We have a high budget, but in order to have Nadal we have to get more earnings from sponsors because from VIP area and spectators side we reached the limit,” said tournament director Herwig Straka, who also admitted he would consider applying for an upgrade to ATP 750 status in order to attract every big name in tennis.
“We have been thinking about it for a while, last year I had just revealed the news.
“But in terms of calendar, I don't think there will be a huge change, at least until 2020.”