Familiar foes John Isner and Ernests Gulbis will face each other again on Tuesday in Basel. Six-time champion Roger Federer is kicking off his campaign against Mikhail Kukushkin.

Ernests Gulbis vs. (6) John Isner

Isner and Gulbis will be facing each other for the sixth time in their careers and for the second time in as many weeks when they clash again in round one of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Tuesday. Gulbis took a 3-2 lead in the head-to-head series by prevailing 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on his way to the Vienna semifinals. Isner had won their previous two contests in a pair of tiebreakers; 7-6(4), 7-6(2) on the indoor hard courts of Valencia in 2013 and 7-6(4), 7-6(3) last season in Indian Wells.

Isner’s recent loss to the Latvian put a dent in his hopes of being a World Tour Finals alternate and finishing the year in the top 10, so he…