Novak Djokovic came from a set down to beat Ugo Humbert 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in his Basel opener, Nuno Borges ousted Casper Ruud, and Holger Rune saved a match point against Hubert Hurkacz as the Swiss Indoors moved towards its quarter-finals.
Basel, Switzerland: Wednesday at St. Jakobshalle belonged to the escape artists. Djokovic was a set down, Rune was a point from defeat, and ninth seed Ruud won the opening set 6-1 and still lost. The tournament that said goodbye to Stan Wawrinka on Tuesday carried on with plenty of drama of its own.
Djokovic weathers the storm
Humbert broke in the third game of the first set and held on to take it 6-4. Djokovic answered by breaking in the second game of the second and moving to 3-0. The Frenchman called for a medical timeout at 1-4 to treat a lower-back problem, and Djokovic, who said afterwards that he had to ride out an early storm, settled into long defensive rallies and squeezed the set 6-3.
One more break, in the fifth game of the decider, was enough. Djokovic closed it out 6-4 after roughly two and a half hours. It was his first match in Basel since 2011, and it keeps him in the chase for a record 19th ATP Finals qualification. Next comes Jan-Lennard Struff on Thursday, a player Djokovic has beaten in all eight of their meetings.
Borges turns the match around
Ruud dominated the first set 6-1, then watched the match slip away. Nuno Borges took the second 6-3 and the third 6-4, winning 12 of the last 19 games to reach his fifth quarter-final of the season. He is a potential quarter-final opponent for the Djokovic–Struff winner.
Rune survives a match point
Holger Rune, who ended a year-long wait for an ATP win against Quentin Halys on Tuesday, lost the first set to Hurkacz 6-3, levelled at 6-3, and took the decider 7-6 in a tie-break. He missed a match point at 6-5 by hitting long, then saved one of Hurkacz’s before converting his second. He will play the winner of Rafael Jodar and Valentin Vacherot in Friday’s quarter-final.
Struff and Shapovalov advance
Struff beat fellow German Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-3 to set up the Djokovic meeting, while Denis Shapovalov beat qualifier Remy Bertola 6-4, 6-2 in the first round.
Results (Swiss Indoors Basel, Wednesday 28 October 2026):
Novak Djokovic (4) d. Ugo Humbert 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Nuno Borges d. Casper Ruud (9) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Holger Rune d. Hubert Hurkacz (10) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6
Jan-Lennard Struff d. Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-3
Denis Shapovalov d. Remy Bertola 6-4, 6-2
