Roger Federer is two wins away from another Halle title, but first he has to get past Karen Khachanov before thinking about a potential Sunday final. On the other side of the bracket, Alexander Zverev is facing Richard Gasquet.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Karen Khachanov
Federer and Khachanov will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they battle for a place in the final of the Gerry Weber Open on Saturday. Federer’s success so far this week has come as no surprise. Not only was in need of a quick grass-court turnaround after losing his Stuttgart opener to Tommy Haas, but he also headed into Halle with a 54-6 lifetime record at this event. The 35-year-old Swiss punched his ticket to the last four by beating Yuichi Sugita, Mischa Zverev, and Florian Mayer in straight sets, thus improving his 2017 record to 22-2.
It has been a breakout season for Khachanov, who started the year a horrendous 2-8 but has now evened his record at 16-16 while climbing to No. 38 in the world. The 21-year-old Russian is coming off a fourth-round performance at the French Open and so far in his 2017 grass-court debut he has taken out Gilles Simon, Kei Nishikori (via first-set retirement), and Andrey Rublev. Dropping sets to Simon and Rublev was not particularly encouraging and the competition level obviously ratchets up to a massive extent on Saturday, so Khachanov’s run will likely come to an emphatic end.
Pick: Federer in 2 with no tiebreakers
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(4) Alexander Zverev vs. (5) Richard Gasquet
Saturday is a big ticket in Halle, where the fans have Federer in action along with the top-ranked German–Zverev. The 20-year-old has climbed to No. 12 in the rankings and is currently in line for a berth in the World Tour Finals. A recent title winner at the Rome Masters (the fourth ATP triumph of his career), Zverev has advanced this week with victories over Paolo Lorenzi, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Roberto Bautista Agut.
Up next for the fourth seed on Saturday is a second career showdown against Gasquet. Their only previous encounter came earlier this season on the indoor hard courts of Montpellier, where Zverev lifted the trophy after upending the Frenchman 7-6(4), 6-3 in the final. Gasquet was a question mark going into this week because he retired from his French Open third-rounder against Gael Monfils due to a thigh injury, but he has managed to defeat Monfils, Bernard Tomic, and Robin Haase. With an edge in current form and home-court advantage, Zverev should be able to treat the home crowd to a win and likely set up a blockbuster title tilt with Federer.
Pick: Zverev in 2
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Good win for Fed over a tough opponent who hits the cover off the ball. With a bit more consistency Khachanov could certainly cause problems for anyone; he played better against Rublev, but one would expect that.
To me, Roger looks like he’s rushing a bit. He sometimes has that slightly irritated look, like he wants to get off the court fast, especially against lesser known opponents at smaller tournaments. I think we’ll see him with more focus in the final and at Wimby.
They are showing the replay of Fed’s match now on the tennis channel.
I am interested in this guy Khachanov. I have been hearing about him and now have a chance to see him in action. The guy’s got game.
It’s hard for me to gauge the state of Fed’s game. He’s doing what he needs to do here so far. I don’t think he’s hitting hhs backhand as well as he was earlier this year.
Nny,
The next time they play, Khachanov will beat him (Fed) — that’s my guess 😀
Karen was too nervous. He can play better than that – maybe not on grass though.
You see those Spanish coaches in his box planning and scheming. They are doing a good job with Khachanov and especially Rublev who at 19, is finally into the top 100… he’s at 91 after his run to the QF in Halle.
Watch this part when Federer has broken Karen and tries to serve for the match. It’s not pretty. They end up in a TB. Federer has been terrible at converting break chances — his backhand return isn’t good. He’s in the net, he’s spraying it all over…all sorts of misses lol Rafa fans would not like Rafa playing like this close to a GS!
RC, I do think Karen looked nervous and can definitely play better. Rublev is really good, too. Roger was obviously not at his best, but Khachanov’s power had something to do with that. He was really teeing off on some of Fed’s 2nd serves, which was rattling Roger late in the match.
Yeah, it’s true. And Khachanov is going to be thinking about that set point he had, dang it. If this match had gone to three…we may have had a NextGen final 😉
The Khachanov v Rublev QF was fun to watch…that’s my opinion, anywey. Only the RBA v Sascha QF was as good.
Rafa is not fed rc.
They both take very different paths even though they usually end up on the same spot more often than not.
Do you really think I am that stupid, Hawk? I can’t tell the difference between Rafa and Fed. That I’m not aware of their different preparations for lead up to a GS. That’s not what my post is about! Fed and Rafa are completely different animals –
It’s one sentence at the end of my post about fans. It feels like you are jumping on me for sport right now.
I sincerely apologize rc.
I should have said nothing or just made a comment that Rafa takes much longer usually to find his form than Federer does.
TBH though, I would have loved to see Rafa playing that level on grass today that Federer showed to come through against a tough agressive young opponent with nothing to lose.
Clearly I am rubbing everyone the wrong way and I need some time to self reflect.
Sorry to every good poster here, nny, rc, and Lucky to name a few.
It’s okay. It’s the stress of another GS. It causes tension. Big hug, I love you Hawk!
I don’t like to get in discussions about Rafa and Fed. But NOW you make a good point, dear Hawks. If Novak would have beat Khachanov in 2 sets even with almost blowing it, I would be relieved!!!
rc at 9:22
#tsame
rc,
Yes, when Fed tried to close it out Khachanov broke him. The tennis channel commies thought Fed was but at his best, making some uncharacteristic errors. He drrm d nervous and uncomfortable because Khachanov was blasting winners all over the place. Khachanov even had set points, but couldn’t get it done. He had the right idea.
I think Fed was kind of lucky to get out of there with a straight set win. Khachanov played well and fought to stay in the match. I was impressed.
Tennis channel commies thought Fed was NOT at his best! *
Nny,
Thanks to my DVR, I’ve watched every Federer match this week. He’s scraping by. But I guess scraping by is better than nothing. Pretty soon Novak will be playing a match in Eastbourne. But Novak is not back. I’m not going to dwell on it — or have expectations.
Rublev could be better than Khachanov — a couple years from now. Not more powerful but he’s probably Andy Murray’s height and he can fly around the court. Also has a better running forehand. Hope he makes it through the Wimbledon qualifying draw. There’s a lot of competition in that draw.