Roger Federer booked a spot in his 11th career Gerry Weber Open final by beating Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6(5) on Saturday afternoon. Federer, already an eight-time champion in Halle, advanced after one hour and 25 minutes of play.
The 35-year-old Swiss somewhat surprisingly dropped serve once in each set, but a second break of his own allowed him to take the opener and he was pushed to a tiebreaker in the second. Khachanov broke to stay alive at 4-5, failed to convert either of two set points at 6-5, and eventually saw the see-saw second set–and the match–come to an end went he sent a backhand long at 5-6 in the ‘breaker.
“I thought it was extremely close–especially that second set,” Federer admitted during his press conference. “I’m still just very happy how I was able to close it out in the ‘breaker.”
Next up for the 18-time Grand Slam champion is Alexander Zverev, who ousted Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The 20-year-old German won the last four games of the contest starting from a 2-3 deficit in the decider. Zverev has already won three titles this season, including at the Rome Masters during the recent clay-court swing.
The Queen’s Club final, meanwhile, will feature Marin Cilic and Feliciano Lopez. Those two veterans battled to respective three-set victories over Gilles Muller and Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday afternoon.
[polldaddy poll=9775727]
[polldaddy poll=9775726]
should be a good one
Two amazing player’s, would be a great match to watch.
But I would be rooting for A. Zverev, I hope he wins.
Who you got?