Juan Martin Del Potro Defeats Roger Federer to Win Swiss Indoors Basel 2012

Juan Martin del Potro defeated No. 1-seeded Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3) on Sunday in an epic back-and-forth final to win the Swiss Indoors Basel title at St. Jakobshalle in Switzerland. 

Del Potro, the tourney's No. 2 seed, became the first Argentine to win the Swiss Indoors title since Guillermo Coria back in 2003. Meanwhile, the loss snaps Federer's two-year winning streak at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament and marks the world No. 1's fourth loss in the final at Basel since 2000. 

Sunday's final match was highlighted by a second-set tiebreaker that saw Federer survive to push the match to a deciding third set, where del Potro would return the favor in yet another dramatic tiebreaker. 

With the win, del Potro successfully avenged his semifinal loss to Federer at the 2012 London Olympics in August.

The 24-year-old now has three singles titles in 2012, and has won two in a row after winning the ATP Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria a week ago. The reigning Olympic bronze medalist is currently ranked No. 8 in the world, but is among Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as the only players to have won a Grand Slam since the spring of 2005.

For Federer, Sunday's loss comes as a major disappointment. The 31-year-old has owned the Swiss Indoors over the past few years. Fed has made nine appearances in the final, and has won five titles in Basel since 2006.

All four of Federer's Swiss Indoors final defeats have come in three or more sets. 

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