Roger Federer wins again in Halle, joined by Zverev in quarterfinals on Friday

Written by: Staff on 22nd June 2017

Roger Federer wins again in Halle, joined by Zverev in quarterfinals on Friday |

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer booked a familiar spot in the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open when he defeated Mischa Zverev 7-6(4), 6-4 on Thursday. Federer held all 11 of his service games without facing a break point to prevail in one hour and 30 minutes.

Despite the setback, Zverev should take heart from the fact that he was far more competitive than when he faced Federer at the 2013 Halle event. The German failed to win a single game that time around, losing 6-0, 6-0.

“It was totally different,” Federer admitted. “He started serving great, which put me under pressure as I wasn’t getting many looks. It was important to stay calm after missing chances to win the set at 5-4. And it’s important to win ‘breakers. They are the sets you need to win to win tournaments. It felt like a close ‘breaker that could have gone either way.

“After I got that in the bag I was really able to start to relax and really play and feel the way I want to feel out there. That’s the first time I’ve felt like that since Miami, so that’s a good sign looking ahead.”

Speaking of looking ahead, Federer will run into another German–Florian Mayer–during quarterfinal action on Friday. It will be their eighth career encounter and fourth in Halle, with Federer dominating the head-to-head series 7-0. He is 4-0 on grass and 15-1 in total sets at Mayer’s expense.

The defending champion of this event, Mayer saw his points from that title fly off the board on Monday and with that he plummeted 83 places to No. 134 in the world. The 33-year-old was a nightmarish 2-11 on the season prior to this week, but he has advances so far with wins over Benoit Paire and recent Stuttgart champ Lucas Pouille.

Another quarterfinal will pit Alexander Zverev against Roberto Bautista Agut. Zverev has pounded to hapless opponents in straight sets, while Bautista Agut needed three to get past both Carlos Berlocq and Dustin Brown.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.

Topics: Federer, Gerry Weber Open, Halle Open, Halle tennis news, Roger Federer, Tennis, Zverev