Marius Copil is having the tournament of his life. A 28-year-old career journeymen who previously had never risen above #73 in the ATP rankings (#93 currently), he has been playing great tennis all week. He is up against Roger in the final in Basel playing in front of a bunch of bankers and cuckoo clock makers (look at the crowd and see if they don't fit the stereotype), and Roger is going for tournament win #99. Tough odds for Copil, and now Marius has lost a tight first set 7-6 (5).
2nd set: surprisingly Copil leads with a break, 2-love....the adrenalin of playing in a final against GOAT is wearing off and Copil is wobbling magnificently, depending on his 140 mph first serve to save him from his shaky bits which are becoming way more frequent, 4-1....Roger who has played quite well today gets what seems like the inevitable break, 4-3. Doubt seriously that this match will get to a third set.
Copil is broken again as God hates him. He loses three challenges and one umpire-demanded replay by a grand total of about an inch and a half as the crowd goes absolutely crazy with delight. Little wobble from Roger but he holds for the match.
Given his struggles most of the week, 99 must be sweet for Roger, especially coming on home turf. I wouldn't say that 100 is going to be exactly a gimme. Federer had a lot of luck this week and played well only in sporadic patches. Except for a set and a half of great tennis against Medvedev, Roger looked his age in this tournament.