Halle Westfalen (Germany): Roger Federer booked his 12th career final at the Halle Open tennis tournament here Saturday, beating American qualifier Denis Kudla 7-6 (7-1), 7-5.
Heading into Wimbledon to remain World No.1 the Swiss needs to win the title Sunday. He will face Borna Coric in the final. Coric advanced to the summit clash after his Spanish opponent fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut retired injured in their semifinal. The Spaniard was leading 3-2 in the first set.
Federer’s win was his 20th in a row on grass, dating to June, 2017. Federer needed just under 90 minutes to get the job done and hold off the 109th-ranked Kulda, who had not lost a set going into the semifinal. The 36-year-old has now reached the final in each of his last 14 Halle appearances.
Taming Kulda was no easy task, with Federer losing a break after taking an early 2-0 lead. The first set went into a tie-breaker where the 20-time Grand Slam winner was able to step his game up a gear, racing to 6-0 in the decider and taking it two points later with his seventh ace.
The top-seeded Swiss kept the pressure on Kudla in the second, with the qualifier saving breakpoints before Federer salvaged three of his own to square the set at four games apiece, sealing his effort with an ace, one of his dozen in the match.
Federer gained the crucial service break for a 6-5 lead as Kudla returned long, and the Swiss closed out the victory a game later on the first of two match points.
New milestone
Meanwhile at the Queen’s Club tennis tournament in London, it was a vintage Novak Djokovic who registered his 800th career win with a 7-5, 6-1 triumph over Adrian Manarrino, Friday evening. The Serbian thus became the 10th player to achieve the landmark in the open era.
“It’s a milestone, and of course it’s a great achievement,” Djokovic said after the match. ‘Every achievement makes me happy and I am proud of it. Obviously I am thrilled.”