ROGER FEDERER OPENS IN HALLE GERMANY TENNIS WITH A VICTORY, AND DOMINIC THIEM CONTINUES WINNING WAYS

Written by: Staff on 16th June 2016

ROGER FEDERER OPENS IN HALLE GERMANY TENNIS WITH A VICTORY, AND DOMINIC THIEM CONTINUES WINNING WAYS

epa05367156 Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates his victory over Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany during the ATP tennis tournament in Halle,Â Germany, 15 June 2016. EPA/FRISO GENTSCH |

By Ricky Dimon

Bidding for his ninth title at the Gerry Weber Open, Roger Federer picked up a 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Jan-Lennard Struff during first-round action on Wednesday afternoon. Federer fired 11 aces, did not face a single break point, and advanced after one hour and 13 minutes.

“It was hard to find a rhythm against Struff today,” the 34-year-old Swiss explained. “He took the ball early, went for a lot on the forehand (and the) backhand. He has a big serve, especially the first one. So then you go back to basics; you focus on your own serve. I thought I did that very well. He never really had chances on my own serve, so that was comforting.

“I feel after the first round, after having played last week, actually maybe something is really possible here. I don’t want to get too carried away but I feel like if I serve the way I did today and I’m able to step it up just a little bit on the return from the baseline, all of a sudden I’m dangerous for anybody.”

Dominic Thiem of Austria in action in the match against Joao Sousa of Portugal during the ATP tennis tournament in Halle, Germany, 15 June 2016. EPA/FRISO GENTSCH

Speaking of dangerous, Dominic Thiem is potentially on a collision course with Federer for the title match. They just faced each other in the Stuttgart semifinals, with the red-hot Austrian prevailing in three sets. Thiem eventually lifted the winner’s trophy, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final on Monday.

With almost no time off, the world No. 7 got right back in action on Wednesday and defeated Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-4. Thiem will face Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second round on Thursday, while Federer is going up against Malek Jaziri.

Federer and Jaziri will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers. Their only previous meeting came three years ago in Dubai, where Federer got the job done 5-7, 6-0, 6-2. Jaziri is once again squaring off with Federer at one of the Swiss’ favorite events, as he is 45-2 in his last 47 Halle matches and 52-5 overall.

Jaziri earned his place in the last 16 by beating Ricardas Berankis 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday. The Tunisian is 7-11 at the ATP level and he is coming off a clay-court swing that featured a quarterfinal performance in Barcelona and a second-round finish at the French Open.