ARTICLES:

• Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal: Swiss Indoors final – as it happened (via The Guardian)

It wasn’t quite a classic, but it was certainly compelling. Federer ultimately made his attacking superiority tell, not least on serve, with his reward a sixth title of the year and a seventh in Basel. The Swiss is now just six title wins behind second-placed Ivan Lendl in the open era (88 to 94). Nadal, meanwhile, stays on three tournament victories for the year, but seems to be making steady progress at the end of what has been a chequered season by his standards.

• Brain Game: Federer’s Net Assault Pivotal In Thwarting Nadal (via ATP World Tour)

Nadal either tried to hit hard to rush the Federer backhand, or hit heavy spin to get the ball up high on the one-hander, which is a lot tougher to achieve on an indoor hard court surface than the Spaniard’s preferred outdoor clay environment.

Nadal’s forehand has been a problem area for him this year, but 10 forehand winners and only 16 groundstroke errors is a big step forward with his renewed confidence and improved form in recent tournaments.

• Basel Tov: On home turf, Federer outdoes Nadal in three-set final (via tennis.com)

“I lost but I was close to winning, very close,” said Nadal. “I hope we can play in finals like this in the future.”

It was the 34th time Federer and Nadal played, and for the 34-year-old, it was clearly worth the wait.

“Six hundred-plus days have gone by a so a lot of things have happened,” Federer said. “Definitely I had the right game plan today. ‘It was a very special day. Probably it was my best victory here in Basel.”

• Why Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal, even at this late stage, remains tennis’ greatest spectacle (via oregonlive.com)

For years, Borg versus McEnroe was the rivalry gold standard, the golden-haired god against the super-brat. No more. By 2006, Federer and Nadal had taken over.

• Sorry Novak Djokovic, but Roger Federer v Rafa Nadal matches take tennis to a different plain (via The National)

Still, a Djokovic v Federer duel, or Djokovic v Nadal, fails to ignite the kind of passions that a Federer v Nadal showdown does.

That, of course, is no reflection on the Serbian, he has been an incredible champion, but Fedal and their contrasting styles, and personalities, take tennis to a different plain.

Federer, with a game that enunciates elegance, is a puritan’s delight, while Nadal is the nemesis, the darling of the rebellious and irreverent Generation Y.

• Murray Returns To Action In Paris (via ATP World Tour)

Big Four Dominance – The ‘Big Four’ of Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Nadal have won 47 of the last 51 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, which dates back to Nadal’s triumph at Monte-Carlo in 2010. The only other players to emerge with an ATP Masters 1000 title are Robin Soderling (2010 Paris), David Ferrer (2012 Paris), Stan Wawrinka (2014 Monte-Carlo) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2014 Toronto).

VIDEOS: 

• Rafael Nadal Sunday Press Conference – Swiss Indoors Basel (via Extreme Tennis 2)
• Rafael Nadal’s first practice in Paris (via BNP Paribas Masters)