Federer cranks up his comeback and has dig at struggling Murray
Swiss reaches Halle last eight for the 15th time Revival is a warning for world No1 and Djokovic
Roger Federer has rediscovered the authority that helped him reign unchallenged through the season’s first quarter. He is not just hitting the ball sweetly again – as we saw in his 7-6, 6-4 victory over Mischa Zverev yesterday in Halle – but talking a good game, too.
The extra 45 points Federer collected yesterday mean that the ‘Big Four’ of men’s tennis will also be the top four seeds at Wimbledon. This is not as common as one might think. You have to go back to the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, when Novak Djokovic beat Federer in a thrilling five-set final, for the last time it applied at a grand slam.
The form horses of 2017 thus far have been the players once seen as old nags – 35-year-old Federer and his polar opposite, 31-year-old Rafael Nadal. Meanwhile, Djokovic and Andy Murray have struggled. Yesterday, while cranking up his comeback from a 10-week break, the archduke of tennis slipped in a sly dig at the reigning world No1.
“Andy [Murray] was tired after getting to No1 at the end of last year and then has been struggling with injuries,” said Federer, whose lowimpact schedule is proving more effective than Murray’s overzealous work ethic. “I think the second part of the season will be really crucial for Andy and Novak [Djokovic] as well. I think the second half of the season is going to be really, really interesting.”
Federer might have lost against Tommy Haas last week in Stuttgart, in what was his first appearance since the Miami final of April 2, but he is now regathering momentum as he moves into the quarter-finals at Halle for the 15th time. His next opponent will be Florian Mayer, a man he has never been beaten by – and has dropped only one set against – in seven meetings.
Yesterday’s match felt like oldschool grass-court tennis, as Zverev charged to the net after every serve and followed up with the same delightful first volley that unhinged Murray at January’s Australian Open. The difference yesterday was that Federer was able to produce accurate passing shots when he most needed them, while his own service games were so assured he never faced a break point.
Halle has been almost a tribute