BASEL: Rafael Nadal suffered a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) loss in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors to teenager Borna Coric on Friday and then shut down his season to undergo appendix surgery.

The nine-time French Open champion and 14-time Grand Slam title winner confirmed he will have his appendix removed on November 3.

Given the circumstances the 28-year-old Spaniard said there was no logic in him competing at either next week’s Paris Masters or the eight-man World Tour Finals in London from Nov 9.

Coric upsets Spaniard to reach Swiss Indoors semis

“This is the day to say goodbye for the season,” said Nadal. “It’s the day to say I had a good first six months this year.

“But it was hard after that with back and [three-month summer] wrist problems and now the appendix. I’m not going to play Paris or London, I’m not competitive enough to do that. I need to do the surgery, I need to work on my back next week before the operation. Then I need five weeks to recover.”

Nadal’s absence at the O2 Arena in London, where he has twice reached the final, will take some of the gloss off the event.

He had already qualified, along with Novak Djokovic, Stanislas Wawrinka, Roger Federer and Marin Cilic, and his withdrawal slightly eases the pressure on the likes of David Ferrer, Kei Nishikori, Andy Murray, Tomas Berd­ych and Milos Raonic who are vying for the remaining places in the event.

There was no such slip-up for Federer as the top-seeded Swiss remained on course for his sixth title in Basel after beating fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

Federer set up a semi-final with the biggest server in the game, Ivo Karlovic after the eighth seed beat German Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-4.

Coric next plays David Goffin after the Belgian kept up his remarkable form to beat fourth-seeded Raonic of Canada 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4.

MURRAY IMPROVES LONDON CHANCES

VALENCIA: Andy Murray collected more points to aid his World Tour finals qualification bid when he fought back from a set down to beat Kevin Anderson 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Valencia Open on Friday.

A wild card at the Spanish indoor hard court event, which he won in 2009, Murray is eighth in the race to secure a berth at the season-ending tournament in London.

The Scot will play top-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, who is also eyeing a place at the Tour finals, in the semi-final for a place in Sunday’s showpiece.

Ferrer, chasing a fourth Valencia trophy after triumphs in 2008, 2010 and 2012, swept past Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci 6-1 6-2 to earn his 600th career win.

Ferrer became the fourth active player to reach the milestone, joining Roger Federer (986 wins), Rafael Nadal (706) and Lleyton Hewitt (611).

Murray is attempting to qualify for the Tour finals for a seventh consecutive year and won the Vienna title last week when he came from a set down to beat Ferrer in the final.

On the other side of the bracket, Jeremy Chardy brushed aside Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-2. The Frenchman will play Tommy Robredo who beat fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar. 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.