Fedex beats Haas, reaches Halle final
Top-seeded Roger Federer came from behind to beat defending champion Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday and reach the final of the Gerry Weber Open.
Federer lost last year’s final to the German veteran but he is now on course for his first title — in his second final — of the year.
“It’s a good win for me, especially after losing the first set,” Federer said. “I felt I played well from start to finish, even in the first set.”
Federer is seeking his sixth title on grass in Halle, his favorite warm-up for Wimbledon. Four of Federer’s seven Wimbledon titles have come after triumphs in Halle.
While Federer fired 15 aces, Haas finished with nine double-faults. Two consecutive ones at the end of the third game of the final set gave Federer the decisive edge.
“This was my best serving by far this week,” Federer said. Federer will play either Richard Gasquet or Mikhail Youzhny in Sunday’s final.
Although he owns five titles in Halle, where a street going past the stadium is called the Roger-Federer-Allee, the 31-year-old Swiss last won here in 2008.
“It’s a big final for me, after that I’ll start thinking about Wimbledon,” Federer said.
Federer will be the defending champion in Wimbledon and seeking to add to his record 17 Grand Slam titles.
Federer dropped his serve in the sixth game, hitting a forehand error after being passed by Haas on the previous point.
“Clearly, I wasn’t sure how well I was really playing until today,” said Federer, who blanked Mischa Zverev 6-0, 6-0 in Friday’s quarterfinal and had not been challenged at the tournament.
“When you are a set down, one break and that could be the end for you. Fortunately, I was able to turn it around.” Haas lost his first service game of the second set and would never earn a break point again on Federer’s serve.
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Mahesh, rohan make semis, face bryan brothers
London, June 15: Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna made the semi-finals of the men’s doubles in Aegon Championships after posting a hard-fought victory over British combo of Colin Fleming and Jonathan Marray.
The third seeded Indian duo took an hour and 32 minutes to edge out their fifth seeded opponents 7-6, (7-5) 4-6, 10-4.
The Indians will take on the top seeded American brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the last four stage. After prevailing over the British pairing in the opening set via a tiebreaker, Bhupathi and Bopanna failed to restrict their rivals in the next set. Fleming and Marray converted two breakpoints to take the second set. — pti
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