Hot Shot: Federer Fires Cross-Court Backhand Montreal 2017
Hot Shot: Federer Fires Cross-Court Backhand Montreal 2017
Aug132017
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki will try to win her first title of 2017 after reaching her sixth final with victory over Sloane Stephens at the Rogers Cup.
Sixth seed Wozniacki, the champion in 2010, saw off unseeded American Stephens 6-2 6-3 in the first semi-final in Toronto.
Defending champion Simona Halep was thrashed 6-1 6-1 by Ukraine’s Elena Svitolina in the second semi-final.
The pair played twice in the day after rain disrupted the schedule.
Svitolina lost the first set against Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza before the rain arrived on Friday night, and the fifth seed fought back on Saturday to win 4-6 6-4 6-3.
Romanian second seed Halep swept past France’s Caroline Garcia 6-4 6-2 in the last of the quarter-finals.
Roger Federer maintained his superb run of form with a straight-set win over Dutchman Robin Haase in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup.
The Swiss, 36, won 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in Toronto to extend his winning streak to 16 matches and close in on a third Canadian Masters title.
Federer is undefeated at Grand Slam and Masters 1000 level this year.
He will play Canada’s Denis Shapovalov or Alexander Zverev of Germany in Sunday’s final.
“I’m happy – most happy that I’m actually really healthy going into the finals,” said second seed Federer, who has won Masters titles in Indian Wells and Miami in 2017.
“I haven’t wasted too much energy. I’ve been able to keep points short. I’ve been really clean at net. I think my concentration and just my playing has gone up a notch. I’m just playing better.”
If Roger Federer was warming up earlier this week in Montreal, the second seed hit a higher gear on Saturday afternoon during his semi-final against Robin Haase at the Coupe Rogers.
The Swiss right-hander struck “Are you kidding?” backhand passes and was untouchable on serve on Court Central. He dropped only nine points on serve (45/54) and hit 28 winners, including nine aces, against Haase, who was playing in his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final.
But the 30-year-old Dutchman was eager for the fight, pushing Federer to a second-set tie-break before the all-time great advanced 6-3, 7-6(5) to reach the Montreal title match. The 36 year old will be going for his third Canadian Masters 1000 crown (2004, 2006 in Toronto) and his 27th Masters 1000 title.
But he has never won the Canadian Masters in Montreal. If he wins on Sunday, he’ll have won a tour-level crown in 31 cities. Federer will meet #NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev or #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the final, which will be Federer’s sxith of the season. He has now won 16 consecutive matches.
The Swiss right-hander owns a 2-1 advantage against Zverev in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the Gerry Weber Open final in Halle in June. Federer has never faced Shapovalov, who’s the youngest Masters 1000 semi-finalist (since 1990).
Earlier in the week, Federer talked about struggling to implement his aggressive game plan. In the third round, he dropped the opening set against Spaniard David Ferrer, a player he’s now beaten 17 consecutive times.
But Federer was sharp from the start against Haase, breaking twice for a 3-1 lead. He served out the set to 15.
Haase, though, who’s hitting top form after battling injuries for years, refused to back down. The right-hander tidied up his service games, striking eight aces and never facing a break point in the second set. But Federer found his way through the tie-break, advancing to the his third Masters 1000 final of the season when Haase lifted a forehand long.
Next week at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Federer will go head-to-head with rival Rafael Nadal to see which player will replace Andy Murray as World No. 1 on August 21.
Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig saved two match points on Saturday at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal to reach their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final as a team. The Indian/Croatian pairing hit 10 aces to advance 4-6, 7-6(8), 11-9 against South African Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram of the U.S.
Klaasen/Ram, who were looking to make their second Masters 1000 title match (Indian Wells), held match points at 7/6 and 8/7 in the second-set tie-break, but Bopanna/Dodig won the final three points to force the Match Tie-break.
Bopanna/Dodig are playing together for only the second time. They reached the semi-finals of the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club in June. Dodig, partnering with Marcelo Melo, won the Montreal doubles title last year.
Fifth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut face eighth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic in the second doubles semi-final.
The #NextGenATP leader v. the #NextGenATP rookie? Saturday’s Coupe Rogers semi-final in Montreal between 20 year old Alexander Zverev and 18 year old Denis Shapovalov will be a historic meeting between #NextGenATP players.
Zverev set the semi-final date late on Friday evening, beating Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-5, 6-4 to reach his second Masters 1000 semi-final. The #NextGenATP German recorded his 44th match win of the season and has now strung together eight consecutive victories, including two over Anderson. Zverev beat Anderson on Sunday to win the Citi Open title in Washington, D.C.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much. I’m trying to play every match the same way,” Zverev said of his recent run.
Shapovalov continued his dream tournament in Canada with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. The #NextGenATP Canadian became the youngest ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-finalist. He and Zverev have never played.
“He’s doing an amazing job of getting to the semis here. He’s so young. He’s playing amazing tennis,” Zverev said. “I’m going to try play the best tennis that I can, to make it difficult for him. It’s going to be, hopefully, a great match.”
With Shapovalov rightfully hogging the spotlight in Montreal, Zverev is quietly enjoying another deep run at a big tournament. The 6’6″ German saved three match points against Frenchman Richard Gasquet to win his opener, and he advanced in straight sets against Nick Kyrgios to gain his first victory against the Aussie in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
Against Anderson, Zverev improved to 4-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. He hit nine aces and overcame seven double faults in the 92-minute victory. Anderson did well to break Zverev and get back on serve in the first set, but the German broke Anderson once more to take the opener.
Zverev would gain another break in the second set to advance to another semi-final. He also reached a Masters 1000 semi-final in Rome en route to celebrating his maiden Masters 1000 title (d. Djokovic).
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