Federer seals Halle final berth
Halle (Germany), June 24: Roger Federer defeated Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (5) to advance to the final of the Gerry Weber Open for the 11th time on Saturday.
Chasing his ninth title at the grass-court tournament, Federer was serving for the match when he was broken by the 21-year-old Russian. Khachanov then missed two set points before Federer took it to the tiebreaker.
“It was all a little uncertain because I don’t know him that well,” said Federer. “It’s warm, it’s hot, I’m a little bit tired. It was a difficult match.”
Federer saved four of the six break points he faced overall, while converting three of his five opportunities.
Federer had a busy start to the year — winning at the Australian Open to take his 18th Grand Slam title — and his decision to skip the clay-court season to recuperate appears to be paying off with a view to Wimbledon, where he is a seven-time champion.
“Everything has been geared toward that for the past 12 months and I’m happy with how I feel at the moment,” Federer said. Kvitova, Barty
in title clash Birmingham: Petra Kvitova took a big step forwards to convincing herself that she can make a full recovery when she reached the final of the Aegon Classic by outplaying her exhausted friend and Czech compatriot Lucie Safarova.
The twice former Wimbledon champion showed few signs of the appalling knife injuries to her playing hand in a thoroughly onesided victory by 6-1, 1-0 retired, which happened when Safarova, who had had two huge matches in the previous three days, pulled out with a thigh strain.
It is only Kvitova’s second tournament since the seven-month hole which was torn from her career, and this was only her sixth match, yet she has reached her first grass court final since her 2014 Wimbledon triumph.
So well has she been playing that it has become even more significant that this tournament is a Wimbledon warm-up event, for Kvitova is already beginning to suggest she can again do well at the grass court Grand Slam starting in nine days’ time.
“It’s tough to play against a friend like Lucie,” Kvitova said. “It’s hard to think about yourself and not your opponent. I am sorry for her and hope she soon gets a bit better.
Kvitova will play Sunday’s final against 21year-old unseeded Ashleigh Barty. The Australian fought back to oust former French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.