![\"Roger](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/federer-nadal-basel-2015-trophy.jpg\")
<\/p>\n ATP Tour
\n 10 Years On: Federer’s streak-starting win vs. Nadal in the 2015 Basel final<\/p>\n
Federer won home title in lone Basel meeting between the great rivals<\/p>\n
October 19, 2025<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fabrice Coffrini\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Roger Federer overcame Rafael Nadal to claim the title at the 2015 Swiss Indoors Basel.
\n By Arthur Kapetanakis<\/p>\n
Ten years ago in the Swiss Indoors Basel<\/a> final, Roger Federer<\/a> made the most of his hometown advantage to notch a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win against Rafael Nadal<\/a> \u2014 a pivotal result in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series that snapped Federer’s five-match losing streak against the Spaniard and started a five-match winning run of his own.<\/p>\n Adding further significance to the match, it was the great rivals’ first clash in nearly two years, since the 2014 Australian Open<\/a> semi-finals. They would not meet again until the 2017 Australian Open<\/a> final, making their Basel showdown their only match across the 2015 and 2016 seasons.<\/p>\n “Six hundred-plus days have gone by, so a lot of things have happened,” Federer said, noting his long wait to face Nadal. “Definitely I had the right game plan today.”<\/p>\n Late breaks decided the second and third sets in a closely contested final at the Basel event where Federer was once a ball boy. Nadal forced a final set with a break at 5-5 in the second, but Federer clinched the decisive break to lead 5-3 in the third with a series of groundstroke winners \u2014 a display of power that encapsulated a stellar attacking performance over the course of two hours.<\/p>\n “It was a very special day,” the Swiss added following his lone ATP Tour match against Nadal in his home nation. “Probably it was my best victory here in Basel.”<\/p>\n The Basel-born Federer\u00a0trimmed Nadal’s advantage in their Lexus ATP Head2Head to 23-11 with the victory, ultimately closing the gap to 23-15 with his five-match winning streak. After Basel, Federer beat Nadal in a five-set final at the 2017 Australian Open<\/a>, then notched dominant, straight-sets wins at the ATP Masters 1000s in Indian Wells, Miami and Shanghai. Their next two matches would be their last, coming in quick succession in 2019: Nadal won a decisive Roland Garros<\/a> semi-final en route to the title before Federer prevailed in a four-set Wimbledon<\/a> semi-final.<\/p>\n Nadal finished with a 24-16 record in their Lexus ATP Head2Head, helped by three different five-match winning streaks (2005-06, 2008-09, 2013-14). Federer won consecutive matches just three times in their rivalry, and won more than two in a row just once \u2014 that run of five victories sparked by his Basel triumph.<\/p>\n![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760913788_954_it-all-adds-up-banner.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\nRoger Federer” style=”width: 100%;” src=”https:\/\/www.atptour.com\/-\/media\/images\/news\/2025\/10\/19\/11\/51\/federer-basel-2015-pizza-party.jpg”>
\nFederer celebrated his win by throwing a pizza party for the tournament ballkids, as he often did at the Basel event. Photo Credit: Harold Cunningham\/Getty Images <\/p>\n