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Djokovic Falls Short in Basel, Remains One Title Behind Federer’s Record

Novak Djokovic suffered a tough defeat at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, falling to Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff with scores of 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5). This loss keeps Djokovic trailing Roger Federer’s career title count by one, as Federer holds 103 career titles.

Match Details

  • Event: Swiss Indoors, Basel, Switzerland
  • Date: October 29, 2026
  • Result: Jan-Lennard Struff def. Novak Djokovic 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5)
  • Struff’s Ranking: 47th
  • Djokovic’s Age: 39 years old
  • Struff’s Age: 36 years old

The match ended when Struff served his 27th ace on his third match point, which Djokovic could not return despite saving the second match point with an ace of his own. Djokovic had previously won his 102nd tour event this month in Beijing. Only Jimmy Connors, with 109 titles, surpasses Federer’s record.

Basel History

This was Djokovic’s first time in Basel in 15 years. He previously won one of his 102 titles there, defeating Federer in the 2009 final. Federer has a special connection to Basel, having grown up there, served as a ballboy, and won the tournament a record ten times.

Surprise Upset: Ben Shelton Falls to Jerome Kym

Top-seeded Ben Shelton also faced an unexpected loss, bowing out to Swiss wild card Jerome Kym with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1) during the night session.

  • Shelton’s Ranking: No. 4
  • Kym’s Ranking: 222
  • Match Duration: Late night session

Shelton has now lost three matches this season to players ranked in the triple digits, including Otto Virtanen (No. 140) at Wimbledon and Nikoloz Basilashvili (No. 117) in Rome. Despite these setbacks, Shelton claimed four titles across three different surfaces this year.

Kym, a tall right-hander who usually competes mainly in Switzerland, showed resilience by saving multiple match points and ultimately secured victory with a backhand passing shot at full stretch during the final tiebreaker.

Upcoming Matches

  • Kym’s Next Opponent: Jiri Lehecka
  • Lehecka’s Recent Result: Defeated Daniel Altmaier 7-5, 6-4

Other Quarterfinalists: Fils and Fritz Advance

Second seed Arthur Fils overcame a challenging match against American Alex Michelsen, winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). In the quarterfinals, Fils will face sixth seed Taylor Fritz, who cruised past Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-3.

  • Arthur Fils’ Seed: 2
  • Fils vs Michelsen: 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
  • Taylor Fritz’ Seed: 6
  • Fritz vs Shapovalov: 6-4, 6-3

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