HALLE, Germany—Defending champion Roger Federer will play 21-year-old Borna Coric in the Gerry Weber Open final as he chases his 99th career singles title on Sunday.
Federer reached his 12th final in Halle after beating qualifier Denis Kudla, 7-6 (1), 7-5, on Saturday.
Coric advanced when fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut retired injured after slipping in their semifinal. The Spaniard was leading 3-2 in the first set.
Federer fired 12 aces and saved six of the seven break points he faced to end Kudla’s 10-set winning streak in Halle. The American had three break points when he was leading 4-3 in the second set, but Federer fought back and finished the set with two successive aces.
“It’s good to know that I always play well when it’s needed,” Federer said.
The 25-year-old Kudla had saved 20 of 21 break points on his way to the semifinals at the grass-court tournament.
Federer, who saved two match points against Benoit Paire in the second round on Thursday, is going for a record-extending 10th title in Halle. It will be his second final in as many weeks.
The Swiss great, who won his 18th grass-court title in Stuttgart on Sunday, is just two match wins away from matching Jimmy Connors’s all-time record of 174 victories on grass.
“It’s a good warm-up. I’m on a run,” said Federer, who wasn’t entirely satisfied after committing some simple mistakes. “Perhaps I’m missing the training. I’m playing a lot of matches at the moment.”
After skipping the entire clay-court season for the second year in a row, Federer extended his grass-court winning streak to 20 matches, including Stuttgart and last year’s titles in Halle and Wimbledon. The revitalized 36-year-old only had a longer streak on the surface once before, when he won 65 consecutive matches on grass between 2003 and 2008.
DJKOVIC IN QUEEN’S FINAL
AFTER reaching his first Association of Tennis Professionals Tour final in almost a year, Novak Djokovic still appeared far from content.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion set up a meeting with Marin Cilic by defeating Jeremy Chardy, 7-6 (5), 6-4, at Queen’s Club on Saturday in London.
Djokovic’s last final—and title—also came on a British grass court when he defeated Gael Monfils in Eastbourne last July.
“I’m just self-critical, I guess, at times,” Djokovic said. “I maybe don’t show the satisfaction or exhilaration when maybe it’s expected or vice versa, or other emotions.
“It’s just, sometimes, you’re pumped and frustrated. Sometimes you just want to keep it to yourself. I’m just glad to keep this going, and I don’t want to celebrate too much. You know, even though I’m really happy I’m in the finals, I just want to keep building this momentum.”
The in-form Chardy had won 12 of his previous 13 matches but the Frenchman was still left without a win—or even a set—against Djokovic after their 11th career meeting.
Chardy’s best chance to end the streak came when the first set went to a tiebreaker, but a couple of loose shots allowed Djokovic to take control
The Serb, who has struggled this season after missing the second half of 2017 with an elbow injury, upped his level in the second set to force break points in three consecutive Chardy service games.
The Frenchman resolutely denied Djokovic at 2-2 and 3-3 before the three-time Wimbledon champion finally broke through with some of his best groundstrokes of the match to take a 5-4 lead.
“So, for the first part of the match, I was not really confident to actually hit the return,” Djokovic said. “I was more kind of like chipping and trying to get it back in play, but it wasn’t enough.”
“From 3-3 in the second, I started to hit better and a couple of big returns when I broke his serve, so that’s when I kind of found my rhythm and the footing and to adjust.”
Cilic booked his place in a second successive Queen’s Club final by edging Nick Kyrgios, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4).
The top seed raised his game when it mattered most, winning both tiebreakers against the Australian in a match which featured no breaks of serve.
Cilic, who was the runner-up at Wimbledon last year and at the Australian Open this season, will be playing his fourth Queen’s Club final. He won the Wimbledon warm-up event in 2012 but has since lost finals in 2013 and 2017.
Despite the Croat’s grass-court prowess and superior recent Grand Slam form, the fact that he’s down 14-1 against Djokovic on head to head ensures Cilic won’t be feeling superior.
“I watched here and there some of his matches,” Cilic said. “He’s playing well. He’s starting to play better.
“You can see that he’s fighting hard on the court, not letting any points go by him. You can see that mentality is back.”
Image credits: AP