Swiss Indoors Basel Round-Up: Ben Shelton crashes out against Munar; Felix Auger-Aliassime slams 28 aces to quarterfinals

The Round of 16 of the ATP 500 Swiss Indoors Basel Open was disputed, with a surprise heading into the quarter-finals, following the elimination of second seed Ben Shelton, at the hands of Jaume Munar, the Spaniard who dominated with a straight-sets victory, 6-3, 6-4.

On the other hand, a notable victory was achieved by Félix Auger-Aliassime, who continues to accumulate wins in a simply remarkable end to the year, and who will face Munar in search of a semi-final spot. The Canadian, a 2-time Basel champion, needs to keep advancing if he wants to continue dreaming of a place in the ATP Finals. Just two months ago, the Canadian barely held a place in the Top-20 of the Race, but his recent months full of victories have put him back in contention.

Félix Auger-Aliassime (No. 12) continues his state of grace in the final part of the season, after overcoming former US Open champion Marin Cilic (No. 89) in two tie-breaks. The former World No. 6 is one of the most in-form players at the end of the year and now completes 6 consecutive wins to reach the quarter-finals of Basel—a tournament where he already won the title in 2022 and 2023.

In a duel between two players who maintained their serving rhythm, Auger-Aliassime stood out the most with impressive numbers on his serve. The 25-year-old achieved a total of 28 aces, landed 74% of his first serves, and won 96% of those points—making him practically unplayable for his rival Cilic.

It was a nervous duel, where both players held their serve without complications. In the first set, Cilic started serving and managed to stay ahead without wavering for much of the set. At 5-5, he faced his first moment under pressure, with two break points against him, but managed to escape, and everything was defined in the tie-break, where Auger-Aliassime won 4/5 return points to take the set 7-6(7-2).

In the second set, things were not much different, this time with Auger-Aliassime serving first. The Canadian again stayed ahead with aces, leading the set. 15 aces and an 81% of points won on serve made his service games practically unanswerable for Cilic. The Canadian maintained his patience to decide everything in the tie-break again and close out the victory with the same score: 7-6(2), 7-6(2).

The Canadian completes 17 wins in his last 20 appearances and continues to close in on a shot at qualifying for the ATP Finals, positioning himself 9th in the ATP Race, still about 430 points away from Lorenzo Musetti—the current No. 8 and the last player provisionally qualified for Turin. His next rival in search of the semi-finals will be the Spaniard Jaume Munar.

Ben Shelton (No. 6) was surprised by the Spaniard Jaume Munar (No. 42) in straight sets in Basel. The American has spent the last couple of months recovering from a knee injury that forced him to retire during the US Open, and since then, it hasn't given him much continuity, causing him to withdraw from several tournaments—including the Laver Cup, Davis Cup, and Tokyo Open.

Shelton made his return at the Shanghai Masters in early October—with a loss in the opener. Back in Europe, he had achieved his first win in months against the Pole Majchrzak—saving match points—but he could not extend his winning streak, being largely surpassed by an impressive Munar, who has had a spectacular year and ensures his return to the Top-40.

Shelton had some complications with his serve from the start; despite an 81% first serve percentage, his effectiveness was only 50%, far below Munar's 89% effectiveness when he played with his first serve. Munar needed a single break in the 6th game to take the lead and, without too many complications, closed out the set with his serve later for 6-3. Shelton constantly faced break points and could do nothing on the single break opportunity his rival granted him.

In the second set, Shelton found consistency with his serve but could not do much on return. The American squandered a 40-15 lead at 3-3, and Munar secured the decisive break. The Spaniard clung to his serve and ended up closing out the victory 6-3, 6-4, guaranteeing his passage to the quarter-finals.