BASEL — Roger Federer got the better of old foe Rafa Nadal for the first time in more than three years to win a seventh Basel title 6-3 5-7 6-3 on Sunday.
Top seed Federer, whose rivalry with Nadal is one of the most storied in tennis history, had not beaten the Spaniard since he won a semi-final at Indian Wells in 2012 and had lost their last five meetings.
Playing his 12th final in his home town, Federer survived a break point in his opening service game before grabbing the upper hand.
The Swiss broke twice to take the opening set and then went about putting pressure on third seed Nadal at the start of the second, crafting a break point at 3-2 ahead.