It has not been vintage Roger Federer at any point during this week’s Gerry Weber Open, but he is still through to the final and one win away from a 10th title in Halle. Federer was once again less than his best on semifinal Saturday but had enough to survive another competitive match, defeating Denis Kulda 7-6(1), 7-5.
The top seed began his Halle campaign by getting the best of Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, but he has not enjoyed a routine outing since. Federer saved a pair match points during a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) win over Benoit Paire before edging Matthew Ebden 7-6(2), 7-5 in the quarterfinals. A similar story transpired with Kudla, who was broken early in the first set but broke back immediately and went toe-to-toe with Federer the entire rest of the way.
After getting steamrolled in the first-set tiebreaker, the American generated two break chances early in the second and even put his opponent in a 0-40 hole with Federer serving at 3-4. But Federer managed to hold and eventually broke Kudla at 5-5 before finishing it off one game later.
“I’m very happy,” the world No. 1 noted. “Like yesterday against Ebden, against Kudla also it was similar. It was tough. I couldn’t quite keep the break going that I got in the first game. I gotta do better there. I can’t be getting [broken] like this. I played a great tiebreaker; went up 6-0 very quickly. (In the) second set I had to battle; I was down 0-40 in one game.
“Honestly I am expecting ‘breakers at the moment. The good things is I have a tremendous record here in tiebreakers. I’m very confident when I go into the tiebreaker…. Credit to [Kudla] to get back and then serve well for most of the match, and me too. We didn’t see any more breaks until basically the very end in the second to last game.”
Highlights:
Next up for Federer in Sunday’s championship match is Borna Coric, who advanced when he got a first-set retirement from Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard suffered a nasty fall and called it quits while leading 3-2 on serve.
Thus continues a perfect run through the Halle draw for Coric, who did not surrender a single set in victories over Alexander Zverev, Nikoloz Basilashvili, and Andreas Seppi. The Croat is 0-2 lifetime against Federer, with losses at the 2015 Dubai tournament (6-2, 6-1) and earlier this season at the Indian Wells Masters (5-7, 6-4, 6-4).
Will Federer pick up the pace from his previous Halle matches for a third career encounter against Coric?
“(I’m) playing a lot of matches right now, so I think I’m missing practice a little bit,” the Swiss commented. “But it’s okay. It’s the first time I’m in back-to-back grass-court tournament finals I’m actually very happy. I’m just hoping to play another good match tomorrow. The finals are always where I want to play my best and this is where I’m going to judge my performance at the very end. Then I got time to rest next week and practice, as well, and get really ready for Wimbledon.”
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survive and advance
Lol Roger should just take off till the US Open after the grass season 😂 This is exhausting for me to just watch #KeepItRollingRoger
He should just play the 4 majors. No warm-ups. Let’s see how that works out haha.
I think Fed is really tired, and has been since his first match here. he didn’t look like himself at all yesterday, and the only thing that was (mostly) working was his serve. His ROS was pre-2017 Fed, because he didn’t have any confidence in driving the return.
I hope this is just a symptom of playing day matches on consecutive days, but it could also simply be age finally kicking in. I could easily see Coric taking this match; Fed will have to step it up from the baseline to win. I think he will. Fed in 3.
Also, if Federer keeps having days like this he’ll retire soon, because he definitely didn’t look to be having fun out there. That was about as grumpy as I’ve seen him, and he smacked several balls in anger, including one into the stands. He could easily have penalized for that.
It’s strange to me because I, personally, thought he looked very good in Stuttgart. And he actually faced tougher competition there than he has in Halle. Maybe he really is getting too old to successfully play back to back weeks with daily matches. I’d like to think that he will fare better at Wimbledon with the day off between matches, but who knows.
I actually thought he looked great in his match against Bedene here, but since then, not so much. His serve is bailing him out, and he said himself that he might just need some rest and practice. I think Wimby will be easier for him with the day of rest in between matches.
Hey guys!…Yesterday i read this article….And it makes me thinks..last year,he was ousted by Haas in 2nd RD at Stuttgart right?And even tho he played Halle & won,it didn’t effect his Wimby campaign bcoz of a early exit at Stuttgart…But this year,he’s already play B2B & going deep in both..and he already admit of being fatigue…How do u guys think of his Wimby chances?Especially he’s 1 year older now….
Oh!..this is the article…
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/978432/Roger-Federer-2018-Wimbledon-Halle-Open
Well, Roger’s got a week to rest up before Wimbledon. Scheduling is a bit tricky there. Ideally he should IMO play only one warm up event. But if he skips Stuttgart, suppose he went out in the first round in Halle? Could have happened…
Yes Ramara!…I think Roger wants to protect his No1..that’s why he chose to play both[not that i blame him,No!]…
And he should avoid win in 4 or 5 setter at Wimby,otherwise..his campaign could be tricky…
lost his opening match
Opening match 😀
Federer won the second set.
who will win??
Leaning toward the younger guy.
Matchpoint for Borna
and Rafa is back at number 1 🙂
For Roger, this loss is as meaningless as Rafa’s at Madrid
Well done Borna Coric. Congrats on your 500 pt. grass title!
Federer appears very sad and deep in thought.
I didn’t see much of the match (watching Kvitova) so I don’t know how it went down but Fed seemed to be barely hanging on this week in Halle. Has to be disappointing for him.
It feels so right to have Rafa at No.1 again!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DdqLzCDVMAAQog1.jpg
👍
So much for big racquet theories.
The GOAT in his rightful position back at No. 1.
Wimby wide open.
I’m not ready to just think Wimbledon is “wide open” all of a sudden… I still think Fed looked extremely good in Stuttgart, and I think it’s time for he and his fans to accept that he’s probably just getting too old to play back-to-back tournaments where you play every day. There’s a reason you never, ever see male players playing really well when they are almost 37.
Judging by how he looked in Stuttgart, the fact that he has a week of rest before Wimbledon, and that he will have a day of rest between matches at Wimedledon, I still cant see any reason why he shouldn’t still be considered the favorite… Maybe not by as wide of a margin as last year, but just like RG for Rafa, besting Fed at Wimbledon in best-of-5 sets is a much more difficult task than beating him in best-of-3 when he’s played almost every day for a couple weeks.
Plus, he will still be the top seed at Wimbledon. Maybe that will help him? If there was ever a time where he could use a good draw, it’s now haha.
Being Roger Federer usually helps him in the draw. And they can always close the roof at Wimbledon. 🙂 Seriously, while I don’t know about Wimbledon being “wide open” I don’t think it’s a done deal the way it was last year. Djokovic is looking pretty good again and if Cilic can avoid blisters he might make a challenge. Then there’s Delpo – he’s a good grass court player. I’m pretty doubtful about Rafa’s chances – I’ll be happy if he gets to the quarters. Too many big servers out there and his serve has not been looking good this year. Of course there’s Murray but I’d be amazed if he goes deep given he’s only started his comeback. I’d put Kyrgios in as a very dark horse. He’s got the talent but not the consistency. A Zverev? Shouldn’t he be a good grass court player?
Zverev, Kyrgios, Djokovic, Cilic, Nadal, Federer. I think one of them will win.
I agree he’s still favourite but not odds on after struggling in every match this week after skipping clay. And Stuttgart was not a great field. Roger never faced a Top 20 player. Pouille at 16 was the only other Top 20 player.
Father Time has been way overdue but may finally be coming home to roost.
He’s still the longevity best in my book.
Nole is suddenly looking very sharp. Rafa just needs to make it to the second week to become a serious contender.
If Fed manages to avoid more than one big hitter in his draw as per usual, that will help his cause.
Last year heading in to Wimby, I had him as a lock to win and he converted for me.
This year I’m not near as convinced.
Yeah!…Agree with u there Hawks!…I have a doubt on Rog too now after seen him these last 2 weeks…With his current form,and with Borna created a huge upset today..many players will go on court trying to do the same..coz they know there’s a little chink in Fed’s armour…
It’s that little bit of belief that can turn a close loss into a win for the rest of the field. Losing Halle is different than losing a 250 and first grass tourney of the season.
Of course, winning 10 titles in one tournament is almost impossible, unless you’re Rafa who goes to 11 (and perhaps even higher).