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
[polldaddy poll=9775106]
(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
[polldaddy poll=9775373]
Leave a Reply