Roger Federer loses to Basilashvili in Qatar Open quarterfinal

Roger Federer played a good match but ultimately got bested by Nikoloz Basilashvili to end his Qatar Open run in the quarterfinal.

A strong opening from Roger Federer was not enough to battle past Nikoloz Basilasvhili who battled back to win the match in just under two hours of play. The opening was interesting in this one as Federer had to save a break point in the first game but after he successfully did things turned around. Basilashvili held on for one game but that was all as Federer broke his opponent to take a 3-1 lead. After that, he mainly focused on his serve which worked well enough for him to win the opening set 6-3. The 2nd set another interesting one as everything clicked for Basilashvili. His shots started hitting and winner after winner gave Nikoloz the 3-0 lead. At 2-0, Nikoloz had a massive hold against Federer who lead 0-40 in that game but ultimately lost it. It only went downhill from there as Basilshvili continued to dominate winning the set 6-1.

The final set was a good one as both players did what ultimately worked for them. Neither player could do much on return mostly due to a strong player from the serving player. Basilashvili was particularly dominant on his own serve and he was able to win points on Roger's as well. At 3-3 he finally carved out a break point but Federer saved it. In total Basilashvili had 3 break points in the game but Roger held on.

After that, we saw two quick games with Federer holding on to the lead 5-4. After one hour and 40 minutes of play, Federer had his first match point but passive play on a Basilashvili 2nd serve cost him. A forehand error and a Basilashvili backhand gave the Georgian the 6-5 lead. In the end, Basilashvili ended it with another backhand winner for the massive comeback victory 3-6 6-1 7-5.