Halle: Roger Federer blew past Mischa Zverev 6-0, 6-0 to reach the Gerry Weber Open semifinals on Friday, teaching a painful lesson to a player trying to serve and volley on grass.
Second-seeded Richard Gasquet also made the last four, beating eighth-seeded Florian Mayer 6-3, 7-6 (4) to stay on course for a third title this year.
Roger Federer is still searching his beginning deed of conveyance of the twelvemonth. Reuters
The top-seeded Federer needed only 39 minutes to record the second “double bagel” of his career. The first was over Gaston Gaudio at the Masters Cup in Shanghai in 2005.
“It’s not something which is easy to do. You never go into a match aiming for that score,” Federer said. “I was very surprised that it happened today, especially on grass.
“I think it is disappointing for a serve and volley player to go down like this. It shows also how easy it is to hit passing shots or returns today.”
Zverev, a German wild card, stuck to his game plan and paid the price for it.
“I hope he doesn’t take it too badly,” Federer said. “I just had a pretty easy time picking up his serve and I must have made a ton of returns.”
While saying he would rather win 6-1, 6-2, Federer said gifting Zverev a game never crossed his mind. He said the only time he lost 6-0, 6-0 was his first match, at age eight.
Federer is looking for his first title of the year. In the semifinals, he will play either Tommy Haas or Gael Monfils. Haas beat Federer in last year’s final in Halle.
Federer is seeking his sixth title on the grass court at Halle, his favorite tune-up for Wimbledon. Federer has seven Wimbledon titles and will be the defending champion there. Four of his Wimbledon titles have come after triumphs in Halle. But his last title in Halle was in 2008.
“It is been a farsighted meter since I gain here so that deed of conveyance this twelvemonth has the highest precedency for me, ” read Federer, who owns a book 17 Grand Slam titles.
Mayer produced a pair of stunning diving winners but Gasquet was the steadier player and fired an ace to finish the match. He will play either Philipp Kohlschreiber or Mikhail Youzhny.
AP