FEDERER VS. FALLA: A GRASS-COURT STORY BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 14th June 2014

FEDERER VS. FALLA: A GRASS-COURT STORY BY RICKY DIMON

epa04256237 Swiss tennis player Roger Federer cheers after winning the semi-final match against Japan's Kei Nishikori at the ATP tournament in Halle/Westphalia, Germany, 14 June 2014. EPA/CHRISTIAN WEISCHE |

There cannot be too many head-to-head histories in which the majority of meetings between two players have come on grass. There are simply not enough such tournaments in a season for that to be a normality. This year, the grass-court swing starts two weeks before Wimbledon and ends in Newport, R.I. the week after Wimbledon. That makes for a total of six grass-court tournaments (five ATP and one Grand Slam).

One “rivalry” that happens to be grass-heavy is Roger Federer vs. Alejandro Falla. Sunday’s championship match at the Gerry Weber Open will be their seventh career meeting and their fifth on grass. For those counting, that means two-thirds of their matches have come on the slick stuff and by tomorrow that mark will stand at 71 percent.

Federer has won all six of their previous encounters, but the history between the two veterans is worth noting. The 32-year-old Swiss was 11 for 11 in sets during their first four matches. Each of the last two matches, however, has gone the distance. Federer came back from two sets down at the All-England Club in 2010 to survive 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-0. At the 2012 London Olympics, Federer held off the Colombian 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. They have faced each other once in Halle, where Federer dominated a second-round clash 6-1, 6-2 in 2010.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Falla said after edging Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets on Saturday. “It’s been a great week for me. I fought in every match. I was down many times. The only thing I could do was fight because I wasn’t playing that great today in the first set. I think he was playing a little better but I was fighting and then I found my way out.”

Roger Federer.

“I’m extremely happy with the way I played today,” Federer commented after beating Kei Nishikori in straight sets for just his second win of the week (the No. 2 seed got a bye and also a walkover past Yen-Hsun Lu). “I’m in another final here. I love this tournament. I’ve won it six times before. So I’m hoping to make it seven.”

Federer is 45-5 lifetime at this event. He is through to the final for a ninth consecutive appearance in Halle.

The 17-time Grand Slam singles champion will also contest the doubles final on Sunday with countryman Marco Chiudinelli. They are set to face Germany’s own Andre Begemann and his Austrian partner Julian Knowle.

Topics: Alejandro Falla, Gerry Weber Open, Kei Nishikori, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis