Vacherot wins Swiss Indoors title as Bernet and Stricker lose doubles final in Basel

Vacherot wins the singles title

Valentin Vacherot, 27, of Monaco, beat Jiří Lehečka, 24, of the Czech Republic, 2-6 6-3 6-3 in the Swiss Indoors final in Basel on Sunday, 1 November. Blick reports that it was Vacherot's second ATP title. Lehečka took the opening set, but Vacherot won the next two to turn the match around. A year earlier Vacherot was ranked 204th in the world, and he surprised the tour by winning the Shanghai Masters 1000 with a final victory over his cousin, according to Le Temps. Le Temps now describes him as one good player among many rather than a surprise.

A Swiss pair falls short in doubles

Henry Bernet, 19, and Dominic Stricker, 24, lost the doubles final 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (6-8) to Théo Arribagé and Albano Olivetti, the French third seeds. SRF reports that the Swiss pair had a wild card entry and reached the final on their own results. In the first tiebreak they came back from 3-6 to 6-6 and saved three set points before losing it 8-6. In the second set Stricker was broken, Bernet and Stricker levelled at 4-4, and they saved a match point in the tiebreak before losing it 8-6. 20 Minuten notes that no all-Swiss pair had reached the Basel doubles final before, and that Jakob Hlasek and Marc Rosset had both won titles with foreign partners.

“On Monday morning we have to be ready at 9 o'clock. And it would certainly be good if we didn't arrive late.”

Prize money and next steps

Blick reports that each player earned more than 39,000 francs, which for Bernet is more than half of the prize money he had won this year. 20 Minuten gives a figure of 42,330 euros and says it equals about two-thirds of what each had earned this year. Bernet said he would invest the money in his career and plans a few Future tournaments early next year, where making a profit is difficult. Both players report to the Spitzensport-RS in Magglingen, and the start of that programme has been delayed by one week. Arribagé and Olivetti will also play at the ATP Finals in Turin, according to SRF.

Basel's standing and Vienna

Le Temps reports that the Swiss Indoors face strong competition and a threat of being downgraded, and that no leading Swiss players are in the field this year. Roger Brennwald, 80, who has been at the tournament for 56 years, still spoke to the press at the Basel press conference. In Vienna, an ATP 500 event, Carlos Alcaraz beat Alex de Minaur 6-1 6-4 in the final, his 28th career title. According to RTS, Alcaraz dropped no sets in five matches, and he had won in Tokyo four weeks earlier. Le Temps adds that the Vienna semifinals included four of the world's top eight players, with Jannik Sinner absent, and that Alexander Zverev secured the world number one ranking again.