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Roger Federer (zimbio.com)
By Cheryl Jones
Today could have been better for Roger Federer in his early match at the Gerry Weber Open. He did eke out a win, but it was almost an “eek” moment for the Swiss gentleman who has wowed the crowds here in Halle for more than the past fifteen years. American, Denis Kudla, who had managed to make it through the qualifying and the talented draw of the GWO to compete in today’s Semi-finals without dropping a set was Federer’s opponent. The final score was exactly the same as Federer’s yesterday results – 7-6, 7-5.
Kudla was the first American to make it to the semi-final round since James Blake in 2008. Even though the ATP rankings have him standing in at 109, he played with a confidence that belied his lowly ranking. Earlier in 2018 he had come to Melbourne for the Australian Open and qualified then lost a tedious five-setter to Austrian sensation Dominic Thiem in the second round. Today, he was neck and neck with the Number One player in the rankings.
Even though Kudla lost the match, he will most definitely remember today’s encounter. The first set was a dead heat with the two players exchanging shots that often seemed to bounce away from the turf in unexpected angles that defied the rules of trigonometry, geometry and billiards. One such bounce was so frustrating to Federer that in uncharacteristic fashion, he slammed a ball through the open roof of the stadium. (That brought a warning for the usually well-controlled Swiss player, but in the long run, it didn’t matter a whit.)
After the match, when he was asked about the moment of quasi-anger, Federer laughed and said, “So this doesn’t happen very much on live TV, but I actually think it’s quite funny and quite comical and it makes me smile on the inside and it gives us something else to talk about as well rather than only talking about break points and stuff. No, but it’s a tough court. There are a lot of bad bounces here. So you cannot be frustrated but I think in the second set, I was able to shake that off and just tell myself, ‘just don’t get too mad’. You know it’s going to happen, it happened to him, too. The last game at 0-15, I hit a return to the baseline, he can’t move to it because the ball basically bounced, I don’t know, sideways and he’s then down 0-30 instead of maybe going 15 all.” He finished up with, “I had a great run, couldn’t be happier right now. So, everything’s good really.”
And Federer was correct, in the end, everything was good. He will move on to the Final tomorrow. Of course, there was another semi-final match. Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain faced Croatian, Borna Coric. It was a short affair, with Bautista Agut in the lead after five games, 3-2. Suddenly everything changed for the Spaniard when he slipped and injured his hip. It was an awkward situation for all concerned as it was apparent from his impact with the ground that it wasn’t a stumble, but a match-ending fall. It was unfortunate for the crowd that had been anxiously awaiting another exciting match. Instead, the two men shook hands and Bautista Agut retired and Coric was the victor.
Federer and Coric have faced each other twice in the past, and the Swiss player has come out on top each time. Sunday’s match could be competitive, but it is unlikely that the Croat will give the much more experienced Federer anything to fret about in his mental preparation for tomorrows contest. Before the stumble that left Coric the winner, Federer had already said that he had very little planned for the remainder of his Saturday except a well-deserved rest.
After his win in Stuttgart last weekend, Federer has been ready to add yet another notch in his win column, with his tenth victory in Halle. As with his other wins here, he has his usual plans to make a statement at Wimbledon. Why not? He has followed the Gerry Weber Open with wins in London in 2003, ’04, ’05, ’06 and 2017. He has chalked up eight wins at The Championships to his nine wins in the GWO.
It’s nice to have lofty goals, but as Federer has repeatedly said, “I only look at the match I’m playing and not an amorphous future match.” That’s easy for him to say, but difficult to imagine when watching the man I believe is the greatest tennis player ever to grace the courts anywhere or any time.
Grace is the name of his game. Tomorrow his “grace” will be put to a test, but as always, he will rise to the occasion and the throngs will flock to the stadium hidden in the countryside in Westfalen to pay homage to the man who will provide more than entertaining tennis. It will be a memorable occasion for all concerned, Federer and Coric too.