ANDY MURRAY ADVANCES TO QUEEN’S CLUB FINAL & ZVEREV TOPPLES ROGER FEDERER AT THE GERRY WEBER OPEN IN HALLE GERMANY

Written by: Staff on 18th June 2016

ANDY MURRAY ADVANCES TO QUEEN'S CLUB FINAL & ZVEREV TOPPLES ROGER FEDERER AT THE GERRY WEBER OPEN IN HALLE GERMANY

epa05372297 Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates after defeating Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in their quarter final match at the ATP tennis tournament in Halle, Westfalen, Germany, 17 June 2016. EPA/FRISO GENTSCH |

Murray advances to Queen’s Club final, Zverev topples Federer in Halle

By Ricky Dimon

An expected AEGON Championships title match will take place on Sunday after Andy Murray and Milos Raonic won their respective semifinals on Saturday afternoon at the Queen’s Club in London. Murray got the best of Marin Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 before Raonic rolled past Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-4.

The second-ranked Scot endured a second-set hiccup against Cilic, but a brilliant serving display in the third set saw him through to the final. Murray won all 17 of his first-serve points in the decider.

Britain’s Andy Murray in action against Croatia’s Marin Cilic during their semi final match at the Aegon Tennis Championships at the Queen’s Club in London, Britain, 18 June 2016. EPA/HANNAH MCKAY

“You’re not going to repeat that every single time, but (I’ll) try to understand why exactly it was so good,” he explained. “The third sets today and in the match with Kyle (Edmund) were a very high level from my side of the court, and that’s very pleasing because I know my best tennis is in there. Obviously just have to try to get the consistency there, which comes with matches and time on the court.”

“For me it’s going to be about trying to dictate and play on my terms,” Raonic said of his upcoming clash against Murray. “For him it’s going to be trying to take away time from me and trying to make me play as much as possible.”

The ninth-ranked Canadian certainly played on his own terms against Tomic. He struck 12 aces and saved the only break point he faced in 10 service games.

While the favorites got the job done on semifinal Saturday at Queen’s Club, it was a much different story at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. Both Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem were upset–Federer by Alexander Zverev and Thiem by Florian Mayer. Zverev triumphed 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-3 before Mayer took out Thiem 6-3, 6-4.

“Looking back on how I felt three, four weeks ago, this is pretty good,” reflected Federer, who also reached the Stuttgart semifinals last week (lost to Thiem). “Talking to me after a loss clearly is always tougher to step back and just to reassess how great everything is, but I must say it’s gotten better and better.”

“I think it’s going to be a very tough match,” Mayer noted of Sunday’s impending final against Zverev. “He’s a young, [up-and-coming] German player. He will be in the top 10 for sure in the future. I think he will be the favorite. Maybe the pressure is a little bit more on his side to win his first title. We will see.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action against Alexander Zverev of Germany during their semi-final match at the ATP tennis tournament in Halle, Germany, 18 June 2016. EPA/FRISO GENTSCH

Topics: 10sballs.com, AEGON Championships, Alexander Zverev, Andy Murray, Gerry Weber Open, Halle, milos raonic, Queen's Club, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis News