Seven-time Gerry Weber Open champion Roger Federer found his way into final in Halle, where he will now meet Andreas Seppi for the 13th time on the professional tour. Federer holds a 11-1 Head to Head record against Seppi and will look to add to that en route to his eighth title in Halle.
Up against Ivo Karlovic in the semi-final round, Roger Federer managed to beat the towering Croat in 88 minutes to secure his spot in the final of the tournament. It was a tight match, as Federer was unable to take command of the match in the opening set until the tiebreak, which was when he edged it out. The second set was much of the same, which resulted in a 7-6(3), 7-6(4) scoreline.
“It comes down to a shot here or there,” said Federer. “We are both mentally prepared. We’ve played so many breakers against one another and I think he was better in the set in the first set, I was better in the breaker. I guess I deserved it because I stayed calm. And in the second set probably I was better throughout the set and he was maybe a bit better in the breaker. Maybe I got a little bit lucky in the breaker.
“So, it was a tough match. I knew that going in. I was struggling to read his serve in the first set, but handled it better in the second set. It was tough. It’s just a bit of a grind and physically it’s like easy, mentally rough.”
The Swiss No. 1 will come up against Andreas Seppi in the Halle final. The Italian reached that stage of the tournament when Kei Nishikori retired down 1-4 in the opening set of their semi-final match with a calf injury.
“I felt it yesterday during the match and I fought through yesterday, but today [there] was a little pain this morning and I tried in the match, but I couldn’t really move,” said Nishikori. “It just came suddenly yesterday. So there is nothing I could do and it’s very unfortunate.”
This marks the 13th time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and the third time this season. Seppi was unable to tarnish Federer’s record against him during Federer’s worst season on the tour but stunned crowds in Melbourne when he ousted the Grand Slam great at this year’s Australian Open for his first ever win against the Swiss. However, he still have to overcome a 11-1 h2h record against Federer, which does not bode well for his chances on Sunday.
Novak Djokovic poses with the 2015 Australian Open title
Novak Djokovic entered the French Open trying to lift his first Coupe des Mousquetaires at the Stade Roland Garros. He was attempting to become only the eighth man in history to have won all the 4 Grand Slam events (Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal have already achieved this). He also tried to become the first man since Jim Courier way back in 1992 to win both the Australian Open and the French Open titles in the same calendar year.
The Aussie-French double has historically been the least attained double with only 3 players able to achieve this in the Open-Era (Rod Laver in 1969, Mats Wilander in 1988 & Jim Courier in 1992). The below plot illustrates the number of double slams attained post the Open Era.
The Most successful double achieved has been the Wimbledon-US Open double which has been done 14 times. Federer has done this 4 times with Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras completing this double twice. The US Open-Aus Open double has been achieved 9 times with Pete Sampras, Agassi and Federer doing this twice. The Channel Slam (French-Wimbledon double) often regarded as the toughest double to achieve has been done 7 times with Swede Bjorn Borg completing this 3 times in a row (1978, 1979 & 1980) and Nadal repeating the feat twice (2008 & 2010). The Aussie-French double has been achieved only thrice.
Grand Slam Pairs – Post Open Era
Why has the Aus Open – French Open double been achieved only 3 times in the Open Era?
1) Big Players Skipping the Australian Open in the 70s & 80s
Beginning in 1969, when the first Australian Open was held on the Milton Courts at Brisbane, the tournament was open to all players, including professionals who were not allowed to play the traditional circuit. Nevertheless, except for the 1969 and 1971 tournaments, many of the best players missed this championship until 1982, because of the remoteness, the inconvenient dates (around Christmas and New Year’s Day), and the low prize money.
Bjorn Borg played in the Australian Open only once
In 1970,George MacCall’s National Tennis League, which employed Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Andrés Gimeno, Pancho Gonzales, Roy Emerson, and Fred Stolle, prevented its players from entering the tournament because the guarantees were insufficient, and the tournament was ultimately won by Arthur Ashe. 6-time French Open Champion Bjorn Borg played in the Australian Open only once in 1974 at the age of 17.
Before the Melbourne Park stadium era, tournament dates fluctuated as well, in particular in the early years because of the climate of each site or exceptional events. For example, the 1919 tournament was held in January 1920 (the 1920 tournament was played in March) and the 1923 tournament in Brisbane took place in August when the weather was not too hot and wet.
Post that,1977 tournament was held in December 1976 – January 1977, the organisers chose to move the next tournament forward a few days, then a second 1977 tournament was played (ended on 31 December), but this failed to attract best players. From 1982 to 1985, the tournament was played in mid-December. Then it was decided to move the next tournament to mid-January (January 1987), which meant there was no tournament in 1986.
Since 1987, the Australian Open date has not changed. However, some top players, including Federer and Nadal, have in the past, felt that the tournament is held soon after Christmas and New Year holidays, thus preventing players from reaching their best form, and expressed a desire to shift it to February. Such a change, however, would move the tournament outside the summer school holiday period, potentially impacting attendance figures.
2) Surface Variation
The Australian Open was played on faster Courts till 2007 (1905-1987 Grass & 1988-2007 Rebound Ace) before it was decided to use Plexi-Cushion from 2008. Players have traditionally found it difficult to adjust to the surface in Melbourne.
Djokovic achieved the three peat in 2013 (champion in 2011, 2012, 2013) but no other player has been able to win it more than 2 times in a row in the Open Era. The other Grand Slams have seen players winning 5 consecutive times (Nadal at French Open, Borg/Federer at Wimbledon & Federer at US Open). Also since this is the first Grand Slam of the year, players are rusty and short on match practice and thus usually tend to struggle.
3) Question of Momentum
There is a gap of almost four months between the Australian Open and the French Open, whereas the other 3 Slams are spaced within 4 months of each other. Players do lose momentum after winning in Australia since such a big gap could often lead players losing thrust.
Also after the Australian open, players tend to go to US to play on the outdoor hard courts in Indian Wells and Miami before coming back to Europe to participate on the clay courts of Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome. These events are physically demanding and takes a huge toll on the players. Thus by the time, the big players are ready to compete at the French Open, they are perhaps stressed failing to recover in time.
The plot above exemplifies the performance of the Australian Open Champions in the succeeding French Open. The Australian Open Champion has lost in the French Open finals 6 times in the Open Era (1978-Vilas, 1983-Wilander, 1993-Courier, 2006 & 2007-Federer, 2012-Djokovic).
In the current era of tennis, where almost all tennis records have been broken and reset by the versatile trio of Roger, Rafa & Novak, the Australian – French double has yet to be achieved. The Big 3 account for almost 1/3 of the Grand Slam doubles achieved in the Open Era. Roger and Novak have entered the French Open 4 times as the Australian Open champion but have failed to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires (Novak enters this FO as the AO champion for the 5th time).
Ironically, Rafa has been the best clay court player in history with 9 titles in Paris; but failed to win the French Open in 2009 when he entered as the Australian Open Champion (lost to Robin Soderling in 4 sets). Historically, faster court champions have failed to perform well at the French Open but with the likes of all court players like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray you would have expected the Australian – French double to be achieved sometime in this era.
Despite Djokovic not being able to make it this time around as he was stopped by an inspired Stan Wawrinka, many fancy the Serbian superstar to achieve this feat in the next couple of years or so.
Kristina Mladenovic sprung the biggest shock of the tournament, defeating number one seed Simona Halep 2-6 6-0 7-6(4).
Mladenovic had been impressive in wins over seeds Eugenie Bouchard and Barbara Zahlavova Strycova in previous rounds but Halep looked a class above in the early goings, continually hitting the lines and forcing the Frenchwoman into numerous errors and taking control of the first set with an early break. Mladenovic was missing routine forehands on a number of occasions and one such error saw her broken a second time.
It felt like Halep would run away with the match in the second but in a bizarre turn of events, the World No.3 received her second bagel of the season (first vs Makarova @ Australian Open) in a disastrous second set. After losing a lengthy point at 0-1 to be broken, Halep would fall apart as part of a 7 game losing run aided by five double faults.
Halep did stop the rot in the third set as serve began to dominate with seven consecutive holds to begin the set in which the two players lost just four points on their first serve. However, a sloppy game at 3-4 saw her broken thanks to a number of forehand errors. Halep would break back after a Mladenovic double fault and recover from a 15-30 deficit in the next game to hold on. Both players held from 5-5 to force a final set tiebreak.
The players would match each other until 4-4 in the tiebreak where Mladenovic reeled off three straight points for an amazing win. Halep netted a backhand in a point she was dominating to bring up two match points but Mladenovic only needed one forcing the Halep error to move into the semi finals.
The loss marks Halep’s first as a top seed while Mladenovic is guaranteed a spot in the top 40 and puts herself in the running for a seed at Wimbledon, especially if she were to win this tournament.
She will play Karolina Pliskova in the semi finals after the Czech defeated Carla Suarez Navarro in the opening match of Friday’s play.
Karolina Pliskova was the first player through to the semi finals of the AEGON Classic after a surprisingly straight forward victory over the third seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-2.
Although not her favoured service, the Spaniard was favoured to win this clash but was never really competitive after falling down 0-4. There was little answer for the Czech’s big hitting with Suarez Navarro constantly being put on the back foot.
It was the fourth time the players had met this year, with Pliskova equalling it up at 2-2 with this result. Pliskova looked shaky in victory over Johanna Konta yesterday but is getting into the swing of things now on the grass with this performance in addition to her straight sets win over Zarina Diyas, also played yesterday.
Pliskova continued to force the issue in the second set, breaking to love for a 3-2 lead after Suarez Navarro could only dig a forehand into the net. After saving 0-30 in the next game, it would end very quickly with the Czech getting a second break for a 5-2 lead thanks to a vicious back hand down the line.
Pliskova did have a minor slip in serving for her fifth semi final of the year, blowing two match points and facing a break point with only a correct challenge saving her from losing the game. There was no messing around on her third match point, hitting her fourth ace of the day to move on.
“I was just trying to play aggressive because I know she’s really good at running and has good hands” said the Czech, who hit 24 winners in total.
Angelique Kerber ensured there would not be a third shock on Day 5 of the AEGON Classic, but was made to work hard for her 6-2 6-4 win over the Czech Katerina Siniakova.
Siniakova had already surprised one German on Centre Court in Andrea Petkovic (def. 7-6 in 3rd) but Kerber would not go the same route. The third seed’s defence was excellent throughout, drawing countless errors. She would quickly move into a 4-0 lead, but would need 3 and 4 break points respectively in the two games that she broke in. Siniakova would get one break back, only to give it back. Kerber finally took the set on her third set point after a forehand that caught the line.
The second would be more of the same with hard fought service games on both players part. Siniakova hit a backhand long to fall down 1-2* and despite her best efforts, could not convert on a lengthy game at 3-4 which saw her have two break points. She would have to save match point on serve in the next game and did so with a powerful backhand but Kerber would face a much easier service game in serving it out, converting her first match point for the win.
Kerber is now one match away from her second grass final in two years after making Eastbourne last year. She will play either Sabine Lisicki or Daniela Hantuchova in the second match on Centre Court tomorrow.
Simona Halep is through to the quarter finals of the AEGON Classic after a 6-1 6-3 victory, needing just 52 minutes to defeat the Czech qualifier Klara Koukalova.
Koukalova came into this match on a high after a comprehensive thrashing of Carolina Garcia in the previous round but World No.3 Halep clearly provided a much sterner test from the outset, breaking serve on every occasion in the first set which lasted a paltry 19 minutes.
It felt like the Romanian was happy not to force the issue after an early second set break with Koukalova reeling off three straight holds in the middle part of the set, the first of which saw her save three break points to get on the board.
A final break to close out the match would complete a successful afternoons work for Halep, who now extends her run to 12-0 when she is the first seed at the tournament. Yesterday’s withdrawal of Victoria Azarenka places her amongst the favourites to take the title along with Sabine Lisicki and fourth seed Angelique Kerber.
Third seed Carla Suarez Navarro had a much easier time on Ann Jones Centre Court today with a straight sets win over two-time slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-4. The Spaniard came through a tough three setter (her 22nd of the year) yesterday in defeating Timea Babos, needing to come from a break down in the final set against the Hungarian qualifier.
After taking the first with a single break, the second set was much easier for her. She rushed into a 4-1 lead, taking four straight games after Kuznetsova. The third seed had a bit of trouble closing out the match, failing to convert multiple match points but did so with her fourth to move into the semi finals.
Suarez Navarro is set to face the winner of Zarina Diyas and Karolina Pliskova in the next round while Halep will face the impressive Kristina Mladenovic, who continued her good run with a victory over last year’s losing finalist Barbara Zahlavova Strycova in straight sets.
It was a good day for the German singles players in Birmingham with both Sabine Lisicki and Angelique Kerber coming through in straight sets. Lisicki won 7-6 6-4 over Magdalena Rybarikova while Kerber came through 6-4 6-2 against Jelena Jankovic.
Sabine Lisicki didn’t quite match her aces record of yesterday in today’s win but it was still a major force in victory, where she won over 70% of points on her first serve. After a slow start, Rybarikova showed why she is a former champion at this event by pushing Lisicki all the way in the first set only to falter once closing time came with a double fault on her own set point before making an error on Lisicki’s own set point.
The second set looked like it would be over quickly when Lisicki rushed into a 3-1 lead with 3 more break points but Rybarikova would hold on to force Lisicki to maintain control on her serve. A long protracted service game at 5-3* saw Rybarikova save a match point before Lisicki converted the first on her own service game with the help of her trademark booming service.
Kerber, a one time Wimbledon semi finalist, didn’t have it all her own way in the early proceedings with the 2007 champion Jankovic’s serve working well. It all turned on a decisive game at 4-3 in which the Serbian had four break point chances.
Kerber held her nerve on each of them, playing some stunning points to ensure that the match remained on serve. Jankovic looked far from happy to have failed to convert and it showed as the next game she was broken to love in a disappointing end to a set she had big chances in.
The German took charge in the second set with an early break and that would be enough for Kerber, who was strong on serve through out and only faced a single deuce. With qualifier Katerina Siniakova (def. McHale 6-3 6-0) awaiting in the quarter finals, it looks like the German will be around for the weekend’s proceedings and a probable thriller with Sabine Lisicki. If that is the case, Kerber will fancy her chances given the 5-0 record she holds against the eighth seed.
Sabine Lisicki is through to the next round of the AEGON Classic after a 6-1 7-6 win over Belinda Bencic, helped in large part by an exceptional serving performance including a WTA record 27 aces over the two sets.
Bencic troubled Lisicki early, carving out three break points in the opening game. However, with the help of five aces she would hold on before rain struck. After a small delay, Lisicki would rush through the opening set twice breaking serve while extinguishing any small lead Bencic had on her service games with more bombing serves.
Bencic, fresh off a final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, did make a recovery in the second set with two easy holds before yet another rain delay whilst on break point. She looked far from happy to see play delayed but would convert the break point upon resumption of play, eventually moving into a 4-1 lead.
It was soon evaporated as Lisicki reeled off three straight games, with a tiebreak eventually deciding the second set. Whilst not matching the 16 aces of set 1, the German would put up 11 more in the second set including two in the tiebreak, the latter of which delivered set point.
It will be a battle of former champions in the next round with Lisicki facing Magdalena Rybarikova to close out Thursday’s centre court order of play.
Aces record
Sabine Lisicki 27 vs Belinda Bencic (Birmingham ’15)
Kaia Kanepi 24 vs Lucie Safarova (Tokyo ’08)
Serena Williams 24 vs Victoria Azarenka (Wimbledon ’12)
Multi-time champion Andy Murray has moved through to the quarter-final round of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club, when he comes up against surging competitor, Gilles Muller. This marks the third time that the two will cross paths o the tour, with Murray leading the head to head series 2-0. However, Muller appears to be in full force and will likely give Murray a difficult time on court.
In a match that many expected to be chalk-full of entertaining, competitive action, Murray was able to advance to the final eight in London with a straightforward 7-5, 6-4 win against Fernando Verdasco. Murray struck four aces, hit 15 winners and won 57% of his first service points. However, he only managed to secure 3 of 12 net points and hit 15 unforced errors, which shows that even though he won the match in straight sets, there is much work to be done ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.
The world No. 3 will come up against Gilles Muller, who most recently defeated defending champion Grigor Dimitrov to set up a clash with the former champion. He fired 19 aces, won 86% of his first service points and saved all three of the break points he faced to complete the fantastic showing 6-4, 7-6(5) in a total of one hour and 15 minutes. Dimitrov even held a 3-0 lead in the second set tiebreaker but still found a way to lose it.
This is set to be the third time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Murray leading the series 2-0. While Murray’s most recent win was a straight sets affair in Dubai this season, Muller is more than capable of pushing the Scot to three sets, and could even produce the upset if Murray is not playing near top form. The Briton will have to clean up his game and decrease the unforced errors count while simultaneously improving the consistency on his first serve.
Yet to drop more than six games in a match this week in Birmingham, Simona Halep is through to the quarter-final stage of the Aegon Classic tournament, where she will come up against Kristina Mladenovic, whom she hasn’t faced since their sole meeting on the tour last season in Paris. The French player leads the head-to-head series 1-0.
Up against a veteran player on Thursday, Simona Halep defeated Klara Koukalova in straight sets to advance to the final eight in Birmingham. She hit 14 winners and won 79% of her first service points to close out the match 6-1, 6-3 in a total of 50 minutes.
“I expected a tough match because she plays very hard on grass with her type of game,” Halep said. “It’s difficult to play her on this surface but I didn’t really want to think about that – I just came out here and played my game, played my style, stayed aggressive and especially served very well in the match.
“It was a good match for me today. It was my second match on grass this year so I’m feeling better on it, and I feel no pressure – I’m just enjoying the tennis here, and enjoying playing on this nice court.”
Halep is scheduled to meet Kristina Mladenovic, who also needed straight sets against Barbora Strycova to advance to the quarter-final stage in Birmingham. She withstood six aces, won 81% of her first service point and saved six of seven break point opportunities to close out the match in one hour and 34 minutes.
This marks the second time that Halep and Mladenovic will meet on the WTA tour, with Mladenovic leading the head-to-head series 1-0. Halep will look to avenge that loss this time around given her solid performances so far this week and level the series before they move over to the Wimbledon Championships.
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Why has the Aus Open – French Open double been achieved only 3 times in the Open Era?
The plot above exemplifies the performance of the Australian Open Champions in the succeeding French Open. The Australian Open Champion has lost in the French Open finals 6 times in the Open Era (1978-Vilas, 1983-Wilander, 1993-Courier, 2006 & 2007-Federer, 2012-Djokovic).
