Bastl bows out

Bastl missed out despite making a great start Keystone

George Bastl has narrowly failed in his bid to make the semi-finals in Basel, after losing an epic three set struggle (6-2, 6-7, 6-7) to France's Julien Boutter.

Bastl was taking on a player ranked almost 60 places above him in the world standings, not that his inferior ranking had seemed to bother Bastl (ATP 125) much on his way to the quarter-finals.

Having already accounted for American eighth seed Jan-Michael Gambill in the first round and Czech world number 33 Bohdan Ulihrach in the second, the Swiss number five looked more than a match for Boutter as Friday’s match got underway.

Solid play

Playing solidly against a surprisingly inconsistent Boutter, Bastl was able to break his opponent’s unreliable serve twice before clinching the first set with ease.

Hopes of any French resistance in the second set then appeared to fade when Boutter gifted Bastl a further break in the opening game with no less than three double faults.

Whistles

It was at that point that the Swiss crowd, seeming almost to want a tougher challenge for their local hero, began to whistle the Frenchman’s lacklustre performance. If it was indeed meant as a wake-up call, it certainly worked.

Breaking Bastl for the first time with some much stronger play in the sixth game, the 27-year-old from Metz was able to level the score at 3-3 before carrying his momentum into the subsequent tie-break where two aces and some fierce returns saw him win through 7-2.

With Boutter finally showing glimpses of the wizardry that helped him overcome world number one Gustavo Kuerten in the first round, Bastl suddenly found himself with a fight on his hands.

Deciding set

In the deciding set, the Swiss had slightly the better of the exchanges but was this time unable to convert his superiority into breaks. Holding his own service games with little difficulty, Bastl came closest with two break points in the sixth game of the set only to see Boutter serve himself out of trouble.

With no more break points coming either player’s way, and 139 minutes already played, the match went to one last one tie-break.

After winning two tie-breaks in convincing fashion against Ulihrach on Thursday, it wasn’t to be Bastl’s day. Surrendering two mini-breaks early on, Bastl came back to level the tie-break at 4-4. Defending one match point on his own serve at 5-6, Bastl then missed his own chance to win the match when Boutter smashed past him.

Unlikely victory

A short rally on Bastl’s serve then saw the Swiss player just overhit his shot, to finally hand a victory to Boutter that had seemed so unlikely during the opening set.

While Bastl’s brave run in Basel is now over, the Frenchman goes on to the semi-finals, where he faces another Swiss in the shape of local favourite Roger Federer.

by Mark Ledsom, Basel