Stan Wawrinka scored an emotional win over Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 on Thursday to set up a quarter-final with compatriot and close friend Roger Federer at the ATP Swiss Indoors.
The struggle, which lasted for two and a half hours and was decided by an 11-minute concluding game, put the three-time Grand Slam champion into his fifth quarter-final at the Swiss tournament.
Top seed Federer, who booked his last-eight place 24 hours earlier, will go into the quarter-final as the comfortable favourite, holding a 23-3 stranglehold over his fellow Swiss in their 14-year rivalry.
In the pair’s only previous meeting in Basel, Federer won 7-6, 6-2 in the 2011 semi-finals.
“We always have battles but Roger is certainly the favourite,” Wawrinka said of the nine-time Basel champion who will be seeking his 50th win of 2019 on Friday.
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