Roger Federer Reaches Last Eight in Halle
Top seed Roger Federer put Mischa Zverev away in straight sets at the Gerry Weber Open and will now meet defending champion Florian Meyer.
OMNISPORT (Redacted by beIN SPORTS)
Roger Federer moved a step closer to winning a ninth Gerry Weber Open title by beating Mischa Zverev to reach the quarter-finals.
Federer suffered a shock loss to Tommy Haas in his first match on grass this season in Stuttgart last week, but followed up a straightforward win over Yuichi Sugita by beating Zverev 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in Halle on Thursday.
The 18-time grand slam champion did not face a single break point in the second-round match and came out on top in a tie-break to get his nose in front, before breaking once in the second to set up a meeting with defending champion Florian Mayer.
Zverev got himself out of a hole by saving three break points before levelling at 5-5 in a tight opening set, but two sumptuous backhands from the top seed made the difference in the breaker.
The second set went with serve until Federer scampered across to fire a forehand at the body of Zverev, which he had no chance of returning and the Swiss broke to lead 5-4 before serving out the match as he eyes a fourth title of the year with Wimbledon fast approaching.