Fed is hot in Halle yet again

HALLE: Top seed Roger Federer will challenge for a ninth Halle Open title after reaching the Wimbledon warm-up event final yesterday with a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over rising Russian talent Karen Khachanov.

The 18-times Grand Slam champion, who captured the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami titles this year, skipped the entire claycourt season to improve his chances of winning a record eighth title at the All England Club.

Despite a shock exit from Stuttgart on his comeback last week, Federer has improved in Halle and has not lost a set. He will now play local favourite Aexander Zverev, who beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final .

The pair traded breaks in the first two games but Federer made amends by grabbing a second one to restore his advantage and clinch the first set on his second set point.

The Swiss lured Khachanov to the net on several occasions, including at 4-4 in the second set and the Russian dumped a forehand volley into the net to give Federer two break points.

But instead of serving out the set, the top seed was broken again and the Russian even held two set points at 6-5 before the world number five recovered and forced a tie-break.

He converted his first match point to reach an 11th Halle final.

Meanwhile fourth seed Marin Cilic dropped serve for the first time all week, but recovered to stop Gilles Muller in the semi-finals of the Aegon Championships yesterday, winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Defeat ended 34-year-old Muller’s grasscourt winning streak on seven but the Luxembourg player will head to Wimbledon in high spirits after another impressive week on the lawns, following his title run in Den Bosch.

Petra Kvitova’s comeback from a lengthy injury layoff gathered momentum yesterday as she reached the Aegon Classic final in Birmingham after Lucie Safarova retired from their semi-final with a leg injury.

Twice Wimbledon champion Kvitova, playing in just her second tournament of the year, was 6-1, 1-0 up at the Edgbaston Priory Club when her Czech compatriot pulled out. Kvitova will face Australian Ashleigh Barty who upset Spain’s Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final. – Reuters