Djokovic Falls Short in Basel, Leaving Federer's Record Intact

Novak Djokovic will not tie Roger Federer’s career title record at this year’s Swiss Indoors. The 39-year-old Serbian lost in straight sets Thursday to 47th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff. The final score was 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5).

Struff secured the victory on his third match point. He hit his 27th ace of the match down the center line, a shot Djokovic could not reach. The German player had previously saved a second match point for the champion with an ace of his own.

Djokovic recently captured his 102nd tour title in Beijing. Federer holds the record with 103 titles. Only Jimmy Connors, with 109 career titles, has surpassed that mark. This marks the first time in 15 years that Djokovic has played in Basel, a city where he defeated Federer in the 2009 final.

Top-seeded Ben Shelton also exited the tournament with a shock loss. The American fell to 222nd-ranked Swiss wild card Jerome Kym. The score was 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1). This result marks Shelton’s third loss this season to an opponent ranked in the triple digits.

Shelton faced two deficit situations during the match. He was serving at 5-6 in the second set and trailed by two breaks at 5-2 in the final set after midnight. Kym, a 23-year-old right-hander, won the deciding tiebreaker with a backhand passing shot while running toward the net.

Kym will face Jiri Lehecka on Friday. The eighth-seeded Czech won his match against Daniel Altmaier with a score of 7-5, 6-4. Arthur Fils advanced to the quarterfinals after dropping the first set to Alex Michelsen. Fils won the match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Fils will play Taylor Fritz in the next round. The sixth-seeded American defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-3 to secure his spot in the quarterfinals.