The world number three Roger Federer won his ninth and ninth place in his hometown of Basel on Sunday with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory over Romanian qualifier Marius Koppel.
He is the fourth title of the season for the 37-year-old, after the Australian Open, Stuttgart and Rotterdam.
In the hour-long 36-minute match, the 93rd-ranked Romanian tried to get rid of Federer's first-seeded title, which he knew by heart. Koppel managed to progress comfortably in the two groups, but the Swiss veteran was always able to return successfully.
"This week has been a witch for me, a journey closer to a dream," Federer said in the cycle he has known since childhood, where he was one of the young men assigned to collect balls during professional games.
The Swiss won their Twalaya 20 at the Basel tournament, having won the last 12 and 14 in their entire career.
Kopel Nada was the first to kick off Federer at the start of each group, led by world-class players such as Croatian world champion Marin Celic in the quarter-finals and German fifth seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-final. Federer's experience is crucial.
In the first set, Coppel advanced 3-1 after breaking Federer's lead in the third and winning the fourth. However, Swiss broke the break in the sixth half and equalized the score 3-3, to extend the group to a break, which prevailed for Federer, holder of the record in the number of grand tournaments with 20 titles.
In the second set, Coppel repeated the scenario, advancing 3-0 after Federer's break in the second half, and 4-1 after each player kept his next shot. But the Swiss experience was crucial, and he managed to win the next five games, and broke the transmission of Kopel twice.
