Basel
Humbert sizzles to sink top seed Fritz in Basel
Auger-Aliassime builds on Basel success, fellow Turin hopeful Shelton falls
October 23, 2025
Swiss Indoors Basel
Ugo Humbert is chasing his second tour-level title of 2025 at the Swiss Indoors Basel.
By Andy West
Ugo Humbert underlined his mastery of indoor conditions on Thursday night at the Swiss Indoors Basel.
The Frenchman downed top seed Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4 at the ATP 500 to improve to 10-1 at indoor ATP Tour events in 2025. Chasing his first Top 10 win since he upset Carlos Alcaraz at the Rolex Paris Masters nearly 12 months ago, Humbert outhit Fritz by 22 winners to 20 to set a quarter-final clash with Reilly Opelka.
Humbert secured his win against Fritz after converting two of five break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 27-year-old Frenchman has won a Tour-leading 21 matches indoors since the start of 2024, a tally that includes two title runs in Marseille. He also reached championship matches in Paris last November and Stockholm last week.
Opelka earlier booked his last-eight spot by holding off Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(5), 6-7(7), 6-3. Friday’s quarter-final will be the maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash between Humbert and Opelka.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has returned to winning ways at one of his favourite haunts, just when he needed it most.
The two-time Basel champion edged Marin Cilic 7-6(2), 7-6(2) to book a quarter-final spot and simultaneously boost his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes. A year ago, Auger-Aliassime lost in the second round to eventual champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard for his only defeat across his first three Basel appearances. Twelve months on and the 2022 and 2023 champion made no mistake at the same stage against Cilic.
Auger-Aliassime outhit the Croatian former World No. 3 by 38 winners to 21 to level the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 3-3. Although both sets went to tie-breaks, it was the fifth-seeded Canadian who finished stronger each time to complete a one-hour, 47-minute triumph.
Tested but through 🙌
The two-time champ is back in the Basel quarter-finals with a solid 7-6(2) 7-6(2) win over Cilic.#SwissIndoorsBasel | @felixtennis pic.twitter.com/dyvlhhFy8h
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 23, 2025
As the race for the remaining Nitto ATP Finals nears its climax, Auger-Aliassime could hardly have picked a more crucial moment to string together a six-match winning streak on the indoor hard courts of Europe. Having lifted his third ATP 250 title of the season in Brussels on Sunday, the Canadian has now defeated two tough, big-serving opponents in Gabriel Diallo and Cilic to reach the last eight in Basel.
The 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime remains ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, but he is hot on the heels of those above him. He is just 400 points behind seventh-placed Alex de Minaur (who is this week into the Vienna quarter-finals) and 290 points behind Lorenzo Musetti (who is also still alive in the Vienna draw).
Another Turin hopeful, sixth-placed Ben Shelton, could not set a quarter-final showdown with Auger-Aliassime in Basel. Jaume Munar upset the 2024 finalist 6-3, 6-4 for the fourth Top 10 win of his career. Munar has now won all three of his Lexus ATP Head2Head matches with Shelton in 2025 (Dallas, Rome, Basel).
Currently 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, Casper Ruud remains an outsider for a Nitto ATP Finals spot. Yet the Norwegian is doing all he can in Basel, where he ended home favourite Stan Wawrinka’s run on Thursday with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win. Ruud takes on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for a semi-final spot.
Denis Shapovalov was another second-round winner on Thursday. The Canadian downed Valentin Royer 7-6(3), 6-2 to book a quarter-final meeting against #NextGenATP star Joao Fonseca.
