Novak Djokovic failed to equal Roger Federer's record of 103 career singles titles during his appearance at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. The 39-year-old Serbian, who recently secured his 102nd title in Beijing, was defeated on Thursday by 47th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff with a scoreline of 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5). This loss leaves Djokovic one title short of the Swiss legend's total, with only Jimmy Connors holding more career titles at 109.
The match concluded when Struff converted his third match point on a powerful ace down the middle that Djokovic could not reach. The 36-year-old German had previously fired 27 aces throughout the contest. Djokovic had managed to save an earlier match point with an ace of his own before ultimately falling in the deciding tiebreaker.
This marked Djokovic's first visit to Basel in 15 years, where he previously won one of his titles by defeating Federer in the 2009 final. In contrast, Federer has won the tournament a record 10 times, including a victory over Djokovic in the 2010 rematch at the event held in his hometown where he once worked as a ballboy.
In other notable results from the tournament, top-seeded Ben Shelton was eliminated by 222nd-ranked Swiss wild card Jerome Kym. The American lost 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1) in a night session that marked his third loss this season to opponents ranked outside the top 100. Kym, a 23-year-old right-hander who typically competes only in main draws within Switzerland, secured the win with an impressive backhand passing shot in the final tiebreaker.
Shelton's defeat follows losses earlier this year to Otto Virtanen at Wimbledon and Nikoloz Basilashvili in Rome. Despite these setbacks against lower-ranked players, the 23-year-old has won four titles across three different surfaces this season. Kym will face Jiri Lehecka next after the eighth-seeded Czech defeated Daniel Altmaier.
Second-seeded Arthur Fils advanced to the quarterfinals after dropping the first set in a tight victory over American Alex Michelsen, winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Fils will now face sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz, who defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-3 to reach the last eight.
Sources: ESPN Tennis.