Struff and Kym eliminate Djokovic and Shelton from Swiss Indoors
Novak Djokovic fell to Jan-Lennard Struff and Ben Shelton lost to Jerome Kym, ending top seeds' runs in Basel.
By Petra Murphy ·
The Swiss Indoors in Basel saw its two highest-ranked players eliminated on Thursday, removing Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton from the draw.
Djokovic, ranked first, lost to 47th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff with a score of 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5). The match concluded when Struff, age 47, hit his 27th ace down the middle of the court, a shot Djokovic, age 39, could not reach. Djokovic had saved the previous match point with an ace of his own.
This loss prevents Djokovic from tying Roger Federer’s career total of 103 titles. Djokovic currently holds 102 titles, with his most recent win coming in Beijing this month. Only Jimmy Connors, with 109 titles, has surpassed Federer’s record. Djokovic visited Basel for the first time in 15 years. He won the 2009 title there against Federer, while Federer won the 2010 rematch in his hometown, where he has won the event 10 times.
Top seed Ben Shelton also exited the tournament after a loss to 222nd-ranked Swiss wild card Jerome Kym. The score was 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1). Kym, 23, won the deciding tiebreaker with a backhand passing shot while running to the net. This marks the third time this season that Shelton has lost to an opponent ranked in the triple digits. He also lost to seven other players ranked between 56 and 87 during the year, despite winning four titles on three different surfaces.
Shelton recovered from precarious positions late in the match. He saved two points from defeat while serving at 5-6 in the second set. In the final set, he erased a two-break deficit at 5-2 after midnight. Kym will play Jiri Lehecka on Friday. Lehecka, the eighth seed, defeated Daniel Altmaier 7-5, 6-4 earlier in the round.
Arthur Fils, the second seed, advanced to the quarterfinals after dropping the first set to No. 34 Alex Michelsen. Fils won the match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). He will face sixth seed Taylor Fritz, who beat Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-3.
The quarterfinal matches are scheduled for later in the week, with Fils and Fritz set to meet for a spot in the semifinals.
