Gone from the ATP Tour, but still firmly in the minds of fans and players alike.

Roger Federer, a 10-time Terra Wortmann Open champion, was honoured in a special ceremony on centre court Wednesday at the grass-court ATP 500. It was the 103-time tour-level titlist’s first visit to a tennis tournament since his final match as a pro at the 2022 Laver Cup. For many, it was a happy reminder of what the Swiss great brought to life on Tour.

“Off court he was always extremely nice to everyone,” home favourite Alexander Zverev, who was beaten by Federer on the first of his two Halle championship-match appearances in 2017, told ATPTour.com. “He was a true gentleman, but he was still very, very private. He didn’t let a lot of people into his life, I think.

“On the court, it was always a joy to play him, because you knew the stadium would always be sold out, the crowd would always be on fire. So in that regard I think tennis misses him.”

Roger Federer” />

_{^{Roger Federer greeted hundreds of fans during his visit to Halle on Wednesday. Photo Credit: TERRA WORTMANN OPEN/Valentin Diehl.}}

Another home hope in the Halle field, Yannick Hanfmann, recalls Federer inspiring him as a young player.

“Any time he is around, it’s a good thing, because the guy is a hero to so many. To me as well. I remember I took a trip to Switzerland through a contact, and I was able to meet him. We took a picture when I was maybe 13 or 14 years old, and then a few years later we actually had a practice week together in Dubai. That was surreal, and we kind of recreated that picture.

“I miss Roger of course. I wish I had played him one time. I was close [once] to playing him in a draw. Roger is a legend, so it [was good] to have him here.”

Jannik Sinner is digging deep on the Halle grass at the Terra Wortmann Open.

The fourth seed held off the powerful Lorenzo Sonego on Thursday for a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 second-round triumph at the ATP 500. Sinner saved all eight break points he faced in an intriguing two-hour, 52-minute encounter inside OWL Arena to reach his ninth tour-level quarter-final of the year.

It was the second three-set win in a row on event debut for Sinner, after Richard Gasquet pushed him the distance in his opening match. The 21-year-old will next play the winner between home favourite Jan-Lennard Struff and Alexander Bublik.

More to follow…

In 2019, Czech star Tomas Berdych announced his retirement from tennis after a storied 17-year career. In the same year, countryman Jiri Lehecka made his tour-level debut, representing his nation in the Davis Cup.

Four years on and the 21-year-old Lehecka is the face of Czech men’s tennis, the same position former World No. 4 Berdych held season after season. The World No. 36, who faces Carlos Alcaraz at the Cinch Championships on Thursday, has already achieved a series of impressive results on Tour. He advanced to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January and reached the semi-finals in Rotterdam (2022) and Doha (2023).

His success caught the attention of Berdych, who after spending time with Lehecka in Dubai, decided to join the team on a more regular basis.

“It is great having Tomas with me,” Lehecka told ATPTour.com in London. “He was in Monte-Carlo and he was in Rome and he will join us on Sunday here in London to do two weeks here at Wimbledon. I think that the cooperation works well.”

Berdych captured 13 tour-level titles in his career, including an ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris in 2005. He was in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings from July 2010 until October 2016, reaching the Wimbledon final in 2010.

Lehecka, who also works full-time with coach Michal Navratil, is delighted to have Berdych’s experience to lean on.

“He already has a different perspective from which he sees things,” Lehecka said. “He can see it from a different position because he was there for a long time. He played really good tennis on grass so he can give me some good tips on how to play.

“I think that it works well. We’ll see what the season brings, but for now I think that it’s helpful and that we gave him some small insight back to the game. I think that he started to miss it a bit, not playing. He likes to just to be around it I think.”

Now working together, Lehecka revealed that Berdych was a major inspiration for him when he grew up.

“I remember watching him during the final of the Davis Cup in 2012 when Czech beat Spain in Prague,” Lehecka said. “That was the first time where for me it was like, ‘Wow, this is one of the moments which I would love to feel myself’. It was funny because when I spoke with him, for him it is not that different. After all, 25 to 35 is not as big a difference as if you are 11 or 21. It was a funny moment and we had some fun talking about it.”

Lehecka will hope to channel Berdych’s grass-court abilities when he takes on World No. 2 Alcaraz in the second round at The Queen’s Club.

The 21-year-old is competing in his fifth tour-level event on the surface, having earned his second grass-court win in his first-round match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in London. The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up is a huge fan of the surface despite his limited experience.

“I think that the grass season is the holiday of tennis because it requires something more from everyone,” Lehecka said. “From taking care of the grass with the ground keepers to everyone else who is trying to take care about the tournament because grass is grass. You can’t just build a court and leave it there. The grass quality here is huge and I think that Queen’s is an amazing tournament.

“It’s the surface where it really shows you the truth. It’s a surface where you really need to show your skills. If you’re not a good player, then you will never have a good result. It’s not like one of the surfaces where you can just run around and try to grind it out. You really need to have that shot quality to get the point. I’m a very big fan of all to that.”

Lehecka will aim to show everyone his grass-court abilities when he meets Alcaraz. If the 21-year-old can upset the World No. 2, he will capture the third Top 10 win of his career and could climb into the Top 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Fresh off their first title of the season in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski overcame a stern test Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals at the Cinch Championships.

The top seeds survived a hard-fought battle against defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 10-7. Neither team faced a break point throughout the one-hour, 54-minute contest.

The British-Dutch duo will next face Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, who won this year’s ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells and defeated Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 7-6(8), 7-6(5) on Wednesday.

Third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury also advanced after they moved past Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan 7-6(4), 7-6(4). In quarter-final action, Taylor Fritz and Jiri Lehecka escaped Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-6.

Top Seeds Advance In Halle
Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer downed Tallon Griekspoor and Robin Haase 6-4, 6-4 after winning 30 of 36 first-serve points at the Terra Wortmann Open. The Salvadoran-Dutch duo will next face home favourites Oscar Otte and Jan-Lennard Struff in the last eight.

Wild cards Otte and Struff rallied to beat Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-7. Marcelo Demoliner and Andreas Mies defeated Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-4, 7-5.

Kei Nishikori will continue his return to competition on the ATP Challenger Tour in July, he announced on Twitter.

The former World No. 4, who triumphed at last week’s Palmas del Mar Challenger in his first tournament since October 2021, will next be in action at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The hard-court event runs from 3-9 July.

The following week, the Japanese star will compete at the Chicago Men’s Challenger. Nishikori, 33, is hoping to then return to tour-level action, as early as the ATP Tour events in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Despite playing his first tournament in 20 months, the 12-time tour-level titlist produced a high level to lift the trophy at last week’s Caribbean Open. Nishikori dropped just one set en route to his first title at any level since 2018.

Nishikori, who underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery last year, moved to World No. 492 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings following his triumph in Puerto Rico.

Welcome back to the winner’s circle 🙌@keinishikori claims his first title since January 2019 after beating Zheng 6-2, 7-5 in Palmas del Mar#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/UVTUlqIhnG

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 18, 2023

Alexander Zverev’s 2023 season continued to gain momentum Wednesday at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where the home favourite eased past Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Zverev broke Shapovalov’s serve in the opening game of the match on OWL Arena and barely looked back as he wrapped a 75-minute triumph in which he did not face a break point. The German won 82 per cent (28/34) points behind his first serve as he rode vociferous home support to his first Halle quarter-final since 2019.

Calm ➕ Confident

@AlexZverev | @ATPHalle | #TerraWortmannOpen pic.twitter.com/bEZsY71rbF

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 21, 2023

“I’m very happy with today,” said Zverev after defeating former Wimbledon semi-finalist Shapovalov. “I’m especially happy with how I returned. I think the first return I missed was in the middle of the second set, so with that part I’m very happy.

“Moving forward, it’s not going to get easier. Nicolas Jarry is somebody that has an extremely big game, extremely suitable for grass courts, but I’m looking forward to the match.”

Zverev struggled to find his best form upon returning to ATP Tour action at the start of the season after recovering from a long-term ankle injury. Yet he looked back to his best in reaching the semi-finals at Roland Garros earlier this month and is now 23-15 for the year after his latest win in Halle, where he reached the championship match in 2016 and 2017.

His quarter-final opponent Jarry also delivered a big-hitting performance on Wednesday to stun second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(7), 7-5. The Chilean struck 34 winners to Tsitsipas’ 22 for his sixth career victory against a Top 10 opponent.

Jarry had beaten Tsitsipas on grass in the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2019, and the 27-year-old delivered a confident one-hour, 52-minute display to advance to the quarter-finals on his Halle debut. Jarry, who lifted his second and third ATP Tour titles, respectively, in Santiago and Geneva this year, has risen two spots to No. 26 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as a result of his run in Halle so far.