An enticing semifinal lineup in Halle features four German speakers, including one player who calls Germany home in each of the two contests. Roger Federer is going up against Alexander Zverev, while Dominic Thiem is facing Florian Mayer.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Alexander Zverev
Dominic Thiem has enjoyed plenty of 2016 success against Federer. Now Thiem’s good friend and fellow rising star Zverev will try to do the same when he runs into the 34-year-old Swiss for the second time in his career during semifinal action at the Gerry Weber Open on Saturday. Their only previous encounter came this spring on the clay courts of Rome, where Federer got the job done 6-3, 7-5.
Federer ended up losing to Thiem in the next round and then missed the French Open because of a back injury. Still less than 100 percent last week in Stuttgart, the 17-time major champion fell to Thiem in the semifinals. But Federer is back in business in Halle, where he is 54-5 lifetime with eight titles. He punched his ticket to the semis by taking out Jan-Lennard Struff, Malek Jaziri, and David Goffin in straight sets, while Zverev also refused to surrender even a single set in defeats of Viktor Troicki, Benjamin Becker, and Marcos Baghdatis. The 19-year-old German is a stellar 26-14 for the season and likely wrapped up a seed at Wimbledon thanks to his 7-6(9), 6-3 win over Baghdatis. Zverev is still a relative grass-court novice, so asking him to pull off an upset at one of Federer’s favorite tournaments may be too much to ask.
Pick: Federer in 2
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(3) Dominic Thiem vs. (PR) Florian Mayer
Even though Thiem may seem like he refuses to get tired, a walkover on Friday may have been just what the doctor ordered. And that is exactly what he got from his own doubles partner, Philipp Kohlschreiber, who pulled out prior to their scheduled quarterfinal due to a hip injury. They had just battled each other in a rain-delayed Stuttgart final on Monday, when Thiem triumphed in three sets. The seventh-ranked Austrian has played more matches than anyone in 2016 (58) and has also won more than anyone (47). He had previously added to his total this week with straight-set defeats of Joao Sousa and Teymuraz Gabashvili.
Up next for Thiem is a first-ever meeting with Mayer, who finally won a quarterfinal match in Halle on his sixth attempt. The oft-injured German is toiling down at No. 192 in the world, but he is currently benefiting from a rare clean bill of health and he has parlayed that into victories this week at the expense of Brian Baker and Andreas Seppi. He also got a fortuitous walkover from second-seeded Kei Nishikori in the last 16. Mayer will find that the competition level ratchets up exponentially in the form of Thiem, meaning an extremely productive week will almost certainly come to a screeching halt.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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Fed and Thiem in two
Fed in two, Mayer in 3
Thiem has a habit of starting slowly and often drops the first set before getting into his stride – particularly if his service is not firing from the off.
Thiem in 3
Federer has been looking majestic this week whereas Zeverev had a struggle in his first set against Bagdhatis. I think he could take a set but not two.
Federer in 3
I may be overestimating Zev Minor taking a set. On grass Federer will keep the points short which will disrupt Zev who favours long rallies before delivering his hammerblow.
Far from overestimating Zev most of us underestimated him. The upset of the tournament.
Zverev with the first set. He’s serving well and going for big shots. Roger looks like he’s been a bit timid. Surprised he’s not coming to net with the volleys considering how well he’s serving
Great win for Zverev! This will be essential for him going forward. I always thought his game is ready for big titles but his head and therefore his confidence level were not…this may be a breakthrough for the kid…
Good from Zverev but terrible from Roger. FH off, movement off, returns completely off.
Yay Zev Minor! Great win for him. 300 points gets him to #29, I think.
Go Sascha!
RC Looks like the new generation has arrived, im hoping for a Zverev /Thiem final now, i wonder if one or if not both will be number 1, and win a GS, and if so which will do it first?, fun to speculate anyway ….
BTW Just one more unit, a maths test, and a presentation speech left now, then i will have finished my course work for my diploma, HOORAY ….
Wow, alison. That’s terrific! congrats ?
About Sascha, very proud of him. My guess is they’ll both win a GS. Maybe both be #1 at some point, too.
But mostly happy for you! Must feel great. I bet your speech will be awesome 🙂
Sad as it is Roger is, although Roger is still an amazing player, hes lost a step now, and his shot selection doesnt always the same penetration it once had, still he enjoys the game still and has nought to prove anymore ….
Oh, okay. I just did a quick read of that other place. I disagree with what I read. Tennis moves on. It’s bigger than its Stars. That’s my opinion. I don’t plan to remain stuck in the past and the new young fans won’t either. Will it be remembered as the greatest ever time in tennis? maybe, for a couple generations.
Fed and Thiem lose. Two Germans in the Halle final. Zverev or Mayer is about to win an ATP 500 event…..What the hell is going on?!
I just came on here to find out that Zverev won! Thiem lost! So maybe it all caught up to him finally.
This has really been a breakout year for the young guns! Well done to Zverev!
I think age has caught with Fed finally. For him not to win Halle is really a big surprise. It seems that the young guys are not afraid of him anymore. They think they can win.
He’s lost at Halle before. Once to Haas and once to Hewitt. The loss is not a big deal. His body however, is.
RC Yeah quite agree nothing stays the same sport moves on, looking forward to the finals, GO MURRAY, GO ZVEREV ….
Im off out now for a meal, as hubby and i are celebrating 28 years of marriage, time flies, will chat later, CHEERS RC ;-)) ….