It's been a sweet week for Romania's Marius Copil.
The veteran made a stirring run to the final in Basel, Switzerland, upsetting top stars, such as world No. 5 Alex Zverev and 2015 US Open champion Marin Cilic, on his way to a marquee title match against five-time US Open champion Roger Federer.
Prior to the ATP 500 event, the 28-year-old's last victory against a Top-20 player came in 2014, when he defeated Gilles Simon in Brisbane, Australia.
Facing Federer in his hometown on Sunday, Copil ultimately fell, 7-6, 6-4, on the indoor hard courts. Despite the loss, his performance is one to remember and could be a sign of things to come for the tour stalwart.
Here's more on Basel's breakout player of the week.
The Marius Copil File
Age: 28
Birthplace: Arad, Romania
Current Rank: 60
Career-High Rank: 60
Best US Open Finish: Round 1 (2017, 2018)
The Baseline
- After turning pro in 2008, Copil grinded for nine years on the circuit before reaching his first ATP World Tour semifinal, which came earlier in 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Though he ended up falling to Mirza Basic, the win ascended Copil’s ranking to world No. 74 in February, matching his career high at the time.
- With his Basel semifinal win, Copil won almost $240,000 and earned 320 ranking points, elevating the tour vet to a career high of No. 60.
- Copil made his debut on the hard courts of Flushing in qualifying in 2011 and has yet to get past the first round of the main draw at the US Open – though he did secure his lone Slam main-draw victory at the 2015 Australian Open in his major debut. In his two US Open main-draw appearances, Copil fell to the likes of three-time quarterfinalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 2015 US Open champion Marin Cilic.
- The 28-year-old holds just one tour-level title in doubles. The Romanian teamed up with fellow countryman Adrian Ungur to take the Bucharest, Romania, doubles title in 2015, defeating Nicholas Monroe of the U.S. and Artem Sitak of New Zealand.
They Said It!
"I would love for it to be the beginning of my career at this level. It was an amazing week. Coming here, I was fighting in order to play and to stay in the Top 100. After this amazing week, I've just gained a lot of confidence in myself, and I saw that I can play a much higher level of tennis and I could keep it up." – Copil said after falling to Roger Federer in the Basel final.
