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Federer Reaches 11th Halle Final

  • Posted: Jun 24, 2017

Federer Reaches 11th Halle Final

Jun242017

Swiss star made to work in tight SF

There’s no place quite like Halle for Roger Federer. The Swiss star will play in an 11th Gerry Weber Open final on Sunday after having to battle past #NextGenATP Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6(5) in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Federer will go for his ninth title in the German city, which would mark the first time he has won a tournament as many times. The 35-year-old Swiss first reached the Halle final in 2003, beating German Nicolas Kiefer for the crown.

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But Federer hasn’t played for the trophy at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament since 2015. On Sunday, he will meet either #NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev or Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Federer lost to Zverev in last year’s Halle semi-finals but beat the German last year in Rome. Federer leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Gasquet 15-2.

The World No. 5 has yet to drop a set in Halle this week. He improved his all-time record at the tournament to 58-6 and is 23-2 on the season. Federer has reached the final in four of his six tournaments this year.

Roger Federer Wins By Tournament

87

Australian Open

84

Wimbledon

78

US Open

65

Roland Garros

61

Basel

58

Halle

57

Indian Wells

52

Nitto ATP Finals

50

Miami

42

Cincinnati

Federer had never faced the 21-year-old Khachanov before Saturday, but the big-hitting right-hander, who was trying to reach his second ATP World Tour final (2016 Chengdu), was unintimidated against the all-time great.

The two exchanged breaks to start the match but Federer broke once more and rode the early advantage to a one-set lead. Neither player could break in the early goings of the second set as Khachanov was freely blasting forehands and Federer was stepping into his backhand and flattening out the one-hander.

At 4-4, Federer broke Khachanov for a chance to serve for the match, but Khachanov broke right back when a Federer forehand pass sailed wide. The 6’6” Khachanov even had two set points on Federer’s serve at 5-6 but was unable to convert either.

In the tie-break, Federer clinched his 11th final appearance when Khachanov lifted a backhand long on match point.

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Kvitova reaches first final since stabbing

  • Posted: Jun 24, 2017

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova reached her first final since returning from a career-threatening hand injury after Lucie Safarova retired from their match in Birmingham.

Kvitova, 27, was leading 6-1 1-0 in the Aegon Classic semi-final when her fellow Czech quit with a leg injury.

Kvitova is playing in only her second tournament since she was stabbed by an intruder at her home in December.

“I’m enjoying playing again,” said the former world number two.

Seventh seed Kvitova will play Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in Sunday’s final.

“I couldn’t play for five or six months and I missed it,” added Kvitova.

“It wasn’t my choice to have a break but I always try to see positive things. I’m trying to enjoy tennis more and seeing things from a different angle.”

  • Live scores and schedule

Kvitova looked close to her best against Fed Cup team-mate and close friend Safarova, who was carrying the injury into the match.

Kvitova made an impressive start, dropping just one point as she raced into a 3-0 lead, breaking serve again in the next game before Safarova held at the third attempt for 5-1.

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Safarova, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist and 2015 French Open finalist, provided some resistance as Kvitova needed a fourth set point to serve out for the opener.

But Kvitova broke again in the opening game of the second set, before Safarova decided she could not continue.

Barty, 21, reached her first grass-court final after fighting back to win 3-6 6-4 6-3 against 2016 French Open champion Garbine Muguruza.

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Queen's 2017: Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic through to Aegon Championships semi-finals

  • Posted: Jun 23, 2017

Former champion Grigor Dimitrov needed three sets to overcome Daniil Medvedev and reach the Aegon Championships semi-finals at Queen’s Club.

The Bulgarian sixth seed led 5-0 after Medvedev injured his shoulder in the warm-up and required treatment.

The 21-year-old Russian fought back but Dimitrov eventually won 6-3 3-6 6-3 after one hour and 45 minutes.

Dimitrov will play Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in the last four, while 2012 winner Marin Cilic meets Gilles Muller.

Croatian fourth seed Cilic beat American Donald Young 6-4 7-5 to set up the semi-final against Luxembourg’s Muller, who won 6-4 7-6 (7-5) against American Sam Querrey.

  • British number three Evans fails drugs test
  • Live scores and schedule

Dimitrov holds off Medvedev fightback

It appeared unlikely that the third quarter-final would even start when Medvedev called for the trainer during the warm-up.

The youngster, ranked 60th in the world, hurt his shoulder during a practice serve and had treatment before deciding to play.

After the first five games went to Dimitrov, a close contest developed and the Russian had his chances at a break up in the decider, finishing with 14 aces.

“It was a very tricky match,” said Dimitrov.

“It’s never easy to play a guy you’ve never played before. He’s a very talented player, he definitely surprised me.

“I wasn’t playing good tennis overall but those are the matches that I’m happy to win. Hopefully I can produce some better tennis tomorrow.”

Lopez, 35, needed almost two and a half hours to win 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (1-7) 7-5 against Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych.

The world number 32 saved two match points at 5-4 in the final set before taking Berdych’s serve in the next game, after earning his first break points of the match, with a brilliant passing forehand that video technology showed was initially incorrectly called out.

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Big servers to meet in semis

Cilic and Muller will meet after both men reached the semi-finals without dropping serve in the tournament.

Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, has not faced a break point in dominating his opening three matches, winning 78 of 84 points behind his first serve.

“I’m playing really well this week,” he said. “I’m feeling great on the court and again today another match without losing serve, so that’s extremely good.”

Muller is in the form of his life at the age of 34, the left-hander taking his winning run on grass to seven matches in a row.

He is at a career-high ranking of 26 in the world and has already won the first two ATP titles of his career in 2017.

“It’s a great feeling when you get that many matches in a row,” said Muller.

“It does happen too often in a year for me, so to get this many wins in a row gives me a big boost and a lot of confidence.”

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Briton Evans reveals positive cocaine test

  • Posted: Jun 23, 2017
Wimbledon on the BBC
Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July
Coverage: Follow on BBC TV, BBC Radio and online with further coverage across Red Button, Connected TVs and BBC Sport website.

British number three Dan Evans has announced he tested positive for cocaine in a drugs test taken in April.

The 27-year-old, who has played for Britain in the Davis Cup, learned of the failed test earlier this week and said he had “let a lot of people down”.

“I made a mistake and I must face up to it,” said the world number 50.

A player can be banned for up to four years for an anti-doping violation, according to International Tennis Federation (ITF) rules.

The ITF said Evans provided the positive sample at the Barcelona Open on 24 April and he will be provisionally suspended from 26 June.

“It’s really important you know this was taken out of competition and in a context completely unrelated to tennis,” said Evans, from Birmingham.

“I do not condone for one second to anyone that this is acceptable behaviour.

“I have let a lot of people down – my family, my coach, my team, sponsors, British Tennis and my fans. I can only deeply apologise from the bottom of my heart.

“This has been a sad and humbling experience.”

Dan Evans factfile
Born 23 May 1990, Birmingham
Turned pro 2006
Best Grand Slam performances Australian Open: 4R (2016)
French Open: 1R (2017)
Wimbledon: 3R (2016)
US Open: 3R (2013) and (2016)
ATP Tour titles 0
ATP Tour finals 1 (Sydney 2017)
Career prize money £1,053,266
2017 prize money £319,132

Evans last played on 10 June at Surbiton, retiring with a calf injury before withdrawing from events in Nottingham, London and Eastbourne.

He was ranked 772nd in the world in April 2015 but had reached a career-high ranking of 41 in March this year.

He lost all three of his matches last month, going out in the first round at the French Open, Madrid Open and Rome Masters.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the governing body of British tennis, said it was “very disappointed” by the news.

“We absolutely condemn any form of drug-taking and will support the process which needs to take place,” said LTA performance director Simon Timson.

“We are in touch with Dan and we will offer appropriate guidance, support and education to him on how best to address the issues he now faces.”

How long will Evans be banned for?

Evans has accepted the finding and the ITF said the ban will begin on Monday, “pending determination of the case”.

A ban of two years is possible if it can be proved the substance was taken “in a context unrelated to sport performance”, according to the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme guidelines.

Spaniard Jose-Manuel Roman Gomez was given a four-year ban after testing positive for cocaine in 2015, while French world number 30 Richard Gasquet had a two-year ban overturned in 2009.

An ITF panel accepted Gasquet’s claim that the substance was in his system after he kissed a woman who had taken cocaine in a nightclub.

Former world number one Martina Hingis was given a two-year ban in 2008 after testing positive for cocaine while competing at Wimbledon the previous year.

‘Evans has had chances’

Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent:

Cocaine is a prohibited substance, classed as a stimulant, which is banned in competition.

Tennis’ anti-doping programme states a four-year ban is the starting point, if guilt is established, but the suspension can be reduced in certain circumstances.

It is cut to two years if the player can persuade the tribunal the drug was used out of competition and “in a context unrelated to sport performance”.

Evans used an almost identical set of words in his brief statement.

My reading of the rules is that, if successful, Evans could then try and argue he bore “no significant fault or negligence”.

If he is able to make a convincing case, any suspension could be cut yet further – but he does face a minimum of one year away from the sport.

John Lloyd, BBC Sport commentator and 1977 Australian Open finalist:

The bottom line is how many chances do you get?

He has had so many in his career where we have written him off, done things like not trained and done the things he needed to, got in trouble and then came back.

It looked like he had finally broken through that with some tremendous performances and he was a world-class player. Now this has happened.

At some stage it has to change. It is very sad.

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