Live: Federer, Zverev Going The Distance

Top seed Roger Federer and home hope Alexander Zverev have split sets in their semi-final clash at the Gerry Weber Open. Zverev took the opener 7-6(4), with Federer responding with a late break in the second for 7-5.

Zverev, the highest-ranked teen in the Emirates ATP Rankings, dropped just four points on serve in the 39-minute opener, firing 14 winners in total. Neither player earned a break chance and it was the German who notched the first mini-break for 3-1 in the ensuing tie-break. He would survive a break back from Federer and capture the set on his first set point.

Federer, who owns a 54-5 record in 14 appearances in Halle, saw his sets-won streak at the grass-court event snapped at 15 straight. He is bidding to reach the final for an unprecedented 11th time.

In the second set, they would remain on serve through the first 10 games. Two aces from Federer turned aside a pair of break points at 4-3 and three service winners from Zverev denied a trio of chances in the next game. But Federer would finally convert the first break of the match at 5-5, striking a sublime drop shot winner as Zverev slipped at the baseline. He would force a decider at the Gerry Weber Stadion. 

At 19, Zverev is looking to become the first teen to upset a Top 5 opponent since Andy Murray fell to then 18-year-old Borna Coric in Dubai last year. Federer, meanwhile, has not lost to a teenager in nearly 10 years, having claimed his last 16 such matches. His most recent defeat came to Murray at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati in 2006

It is the second encounter in less than a month between the Swiss and the German, with Federer prevailing on the clay of Rome.