Let’s start in Basel.  Roger Federer is a five-time finalist at Basel.  He reached the finals back in 2000 and 2001 before he became the Roger Federer.  He also won the title three times in a row starting in 2006.  However, last year, in 2009, Djokovic decided to play on Roger’s home tournament.

In a way, 2009 was a down year for Roger Federer.  Sure, he won two Slams (the French and Wimbledon) and was on the verge of winning a third (the US Open), but he had four titles all year (including Madrid and Cincinnati).  2010, however, has proved even worse with Roger having reach only one Slam final (the Australian, which he won) and losing in the quarters of the French and Wimbledon, and the semifinals of the US Open.

Roger Federer can, at the very least, break Pete Sampras’s match wins if he wins Basel, making it his 65 title.  He’ll be highly motivated to do so because it’s his home tournament, and he’d get to beat the man that took the title from him last time: Novak Djokovic.

To reach the finals, Federer had to play long-time rival, Andy Roddick.  It’s hard to call this a rivalry.  With his easy win over Roddick in the semifinals, Federer improves his lopsided record to 20-2.  Unlike their Wimbledon classic, this wasn’t even close.  Roddick was perhaps more than thrilled reaching the semifinals, a testament more to his experience than to being match tough.  Roddick didn’t expect much of himself at Basel given his injury and lack of practice time.  Federer said it helped a lot that Roddick didn’t hit an ace for a while, which he attributed to reading the serve well.

In the other semis, Novak Djokovic once again faced Victor Troicki.  Troicki is the answer to a fairly obscure trivia question.  In 2004, Gael Monfils was the world number 1 junior.  He won 3 of 4 Slams, but lost in the US Open to, you guessed it, Victor Troicki.  Andy Murray would go on to win the junior US Open.  With his win in St. Petersburg, Troicki has been playing solid tennis.  However, so has Novak Djokovic.  Djokovic always seems to play well this time of year, and he won in two close sets over his countryman.

This will set up the final Basel organizers had hoped.  The duo have split the last four meetings.  Novak beat Roger a year ago in Basel.  Roger returned the favor beating him in Toronto this year in the semifinals.  Novak won again in the US Open semifinals to reach his third Slam finals (two US Opens, and one Australian Open).  Roger won in the semifinals of Shanghai just a few weeks ago.

Because of Andy Murray’s early loss in Valencia, tournament directors were left without its top seed and defending champ.  Even so, they had two Spaniards in the semifinals.  In one semi, David Ferrer faced off against Robin Soderling.  The two players usually play close, with the quick, speedy Spaniard having to deal with Soderling’s big power.  This went three sets, with Ferrer winning the encounter.

The other semifinals pitted lucky loser, Marcel Granollers, who had been eliminated in qualifying, but got in when a main draw participant dropped out, against resurgent Frenchman, Gilles Simon.  Granollers had a nice draw, beating a qualifier in the opening round, then a wildcard in the second round, before facing his first serious opponent, Juan Monaco.  Granollers semifinal opponent was Gilles Simon, who was part of the 2008 group that came out of nowhere (including, primarily, Juan Martin del Potro).

Simon’s 2009 and 2010 hadn’t been that good primarily due to an injury, but Simon has played well since about the US Open. He may not be at the level he was at the end of 2008, but he’s starting to show signs he might be able to get into the top 20.

The bad news?  This was an awful, awful match.  Players sprayed balls everywhere, and nerves betrayed themselves.  Granollers kept threatening a second break in the third set, only to find Simon breaking back then losing his serve again.  Granollers was close to celebrating when a wide ball was called in.  Surprising to see that at a huge event like this, there’s no Hawkeye.  With the point awarded to Simon, Simon served out the game.  However, he wasn’t able to break Granollers, despite keeping it somewhat close.  Gilles Simon has done well in Valencia before, having reached the finals back in 2006.

Granollers now plays his countryman, David Ferrer, who won the event 2 years ago, and is expected to win the title over his much lower-ranked opponent.