This city on the River Rhine in north-west Switzerland, close to the country's borders with France and Germany, is Roger Federer's birthplace.
While Basel's legendary son gears up for a huge challenge today, it is business as usual at the city's medieval Marktplatz (marketplace) dominated by the 16th century red sandstone Town Hall. With its old world charm and trams gliding by, Basel displays characteristics of the Swiss: subdued, modest and conservative.
This is the city where it all began for the 35-year-old Swiss who beat Czech Tomas Berdych to reach the Wimbledon finals for the 11th time and is now all set to take on Croatian Marin Cilic.
A Basel resident, who knows the Federer family well, says, "People in Basel have watched Federer grow up. He was groomed in a private tennis club in Alschwil on the outskirts of Basel." The credit for his astounding success goes primarily to his parents Robert and Lynette, the resident adds.
They are very dedicated parents. As a young boy Federer was always four years ahead of the other tennis players. Everyone could see it at a glance. But he was very temperamental too. And like most extremely talented boys, he too would play up. Quick to notice his temperament, his parents got a therapist to work on him. Federer owes a lot to his marvellous parents. A lot of talented youngsters become victims of a foul temperament. Today Federer is exemplary in terms of self-discipline and humility.
It is these qualities that have endeared him to the Swiss.
Lucia Herger, a Swiss national, points out, "I hope he wins Wimbledon again. I like his integrity, talent and modesty. He is honest. He does not have celebrity issues. He is a faithful husband and loving father. I honour him because he has that combination of friendliness and talent..He is a very normal human being who has ethics."
Last December, Federer had said that he'd like to play for at least two to three more years. This was followed by an announcement from the Swiss Indoors Basel, Federer's hometown tournament that its iconic son had agreed to play the event through 2019. The Swiss Indoors is a professional men's tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was originally an event of the Grand Prix tennis circuit, and has now become part of ATP World Tour 250 series.
Playing in Basel has always been ''a highlight of the year'' for Federer who holds the record for the most singles titles , having won the tournament seven times.
Basel now waits with bated breath for the eighth.
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