Federer dominates Medvedev to reach 14th Basel final
Roger Federer snapped back into form on as he defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 to reach a 14th final at the Swiss Indoors in his hometown of Basel.
After two patchy - but winning - performances this week over three sets, Federer finally showed the game befitting a 20time Grand Slam champion.
He brushed aside an opponent who won a title last month in Tokyo, moving into his 12th straight final here after 64 minutes.
It still took him four match points over three games to get the job done against a player he beat in three sets in the first round of the Shanghai Masters this month.
"It was a very good win for me, I'd rate it at eight out of 10," Federer said. "He played me tough in Shanghai.
"I was feeling good on court apart from closing it out, I had a few errors there.
"He finished late last night and maybe his legs were a bit heavy. I was able to use my experience today."
Medvedev saved match points in the seventh, ninth and 10th games of the second set before Federer advanced from the Russian's concluding error.
Federer will bid for a ninth title at his hometown event on Sunday as he takes on Marius Copil.
The 93rd-ranked Romanian became the first qualifier to reach the Basel final in more than a decade as he upset Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4.
"I still can't believe I won, it's been an unbelievable week for me," Copil said. "When I came here I was fighting to stay in the top 100.
"I was just hoping to win a few matches. Now I'm in the final, it's an unreal achievement for me. I cannot wait to play tomorrow."
Federer, 37, spent almost 90 minutes less on court Saturday than Copil, who has had to come through six matches to reach his second career ATP final.
"I hope Marius spent a lot of energy in his match, I'm feeling very fresh," said Federer.
"It would be great to win my 99th career title here in Basel." It took top seed Federer just 19 minutes to secure the opening set against Medvedev. He kept his foot on the pedal in the second, racing to a comfortable 4-0 lead but had to fight to emerge the winner.