ATP Tour
10 Years On: Federer’s streak-starting win vs. Nadal in the 2015 Basel final
Federer won home title in lone Basel meeting between the great rivals
October 19, 2025
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
Roger Federer overcame Rafael Nadal to claim the title at the 2015 Swiss Indoors Basel.
By Arthur Kapetanakis
Ten years ago in the Swiss Indoors Basel final, Roger Federer made the most of his hometown advantage to notch a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win against Rafael Nadal — 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.
Adding further significance to the match, it was the great rivals’ first clash in nearly two years, since the 2014 Australian Open semi-finals. They would not meet again until the 2017 Australian Open final, making their Basel showdown their only match across the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
“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.”
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 — a display of power that encapsulated a stellar attacking performance over the course of two hours.
“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.”
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Federer 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
The Basel-born Federer trimmed 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, 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 semi-final en route to the title before Federer prevailed in a four-set Wimbledon semi-final.
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 — that run of five victories sparked by his Basel triumph.
Federer’s 2015 Basel title was his 88th tour-level singles trophy and his seventh in Basel. He closed his career with 103 titles, second only to Jimmy Connors‘ 109, and a record 10 crowns at his hometown tournament.
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