Roger Federer Through To Halle Semis, Zverev and Thiem Still In His Way Of The Title

Written by: on 18th June 2016
Roger Federer Through To Halle Semis, Zverev and Thiem Still In His Way Of The Title  |

By Ricky Dimon

Death, taxes, and Roger Federer winning matches at the Gerry Weber Open–those may be the three certainties of life. Federer advanced to another semifinal in Halle and put himself within two victories of a ninth career title by beating David Goffin 6-1, 7-6(10) in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Swiss seized six breaks of serve in 10 return games to get the job done after one hour and 21 minutes.

Federer is now an outrageous 54-5 lifetime at this tournament, including 47-2 in his last 49 matches,

“I thought it was my best match thus far,” the world No. 3 assessed. “It is a good win for me and I’m clearly very happy to be in the semis.”

Federer spent some of Friday scouting his semifinal adversary, Alexander Zverev. The 19-year-old won a thrilling tiebreaker of his own in a 7-6(9), 6-3 defeat of Marcos Baghdatis. Zverev erased all of a 6-3 deficit in the ‘breaker and eventually fought off five set points.

“For me it doesn’t really matter what surface it is,” the 38th-ranked German explained. “It depends more on me, how I play, how I feel. I’ve played well on all four surfaces (including indoors). I’ve played well on clay; I’ve played well on hard at the beginning of the year. So, I can’t really say there’s a surface I don’t like or anything like that.

“I always enjoy playing at home (in Germany). It’s that simple. I always enjoy having the crowd behind me, I always enjoy playing in front of a big crowd. So, for me it’s always quite nice to play here and to play in Hamburg obviously, as well.”

“I thought Zverev played well,” Federer commented. “He played a crucial, huge first set. Marcos should have won that but ended up losing it. The momentum goes Zverev’s way, one break and the match is over. So credit to Zverev for getting the job done.He’s got a big serve, he’s got a nice backhand, he’s improving his forehand,and he’s moving forward. He’s going to be a tough player in the future, no doubt about it.”

As if anyone needs any more evidence that the future is now, not only for Dominic Thiem but also for Zverev, Zverev likely wrapped up a seed at Wimbledon by virtue of his victory over Baghdatis. He is projected to reach No. 31 in the world when the next rankings come out even if he falls to Federer on Saturday.

Thiem, meanwhile, is looming large on the other side of the Halle draw. The recent Stuttgart champion, who upset Federer last weekend, will go up against unseeded German Floridan Mayer.

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

 

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