Another rare clash between 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and Latvian Ernests Gulbis is scheduled to take place, this time in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. This is just the fifth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, and their first meeting since Gulbis ousted the Swiss star during the fourth round of last year’s French Open. The head-to-head series is currently tied 2-2.

In one of his toughest matches against the German Philipp Kohlschreiber, Roger Federer managed to save himself from a lose when he was just a few points away from being ousted prematurely from Halle. In the end, he prevailed in three tight sets to secure his place in the second round of the tournament. He won the match 7-6(8), 3-6, 7-6(5) in two hours and 11 minutes to earn his fourth win against Kohlschreiber at this tournament.

“I’m very relieved,” said Federer after the match. “Philipp served at 5-4 in the [third set] tie-break. It’s rough on grass, it takes two serves and maybe that’s it.” “I wasted two match points at 5-4, 15/40 and then saved a break point at five-all, so it was a roller-coaster ride in the end. My nerves are still going a bit crazy right now,”

The following morning, Ernests Gulbis stepped out on court to defeat Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets to work his way into the second round of the tournament. He fired nine aces, won 76% of his first service points and saved three break points en route to a 6-4, 7-6(3) win against the Ukrainian.

This marks the fifth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour with the series currently tied 2-2. Three of those meetings took place on clay, while Federer remains undisputed on hard courts. This marks their first encounter on grass and should be an interesting one given their current trajectories on the tour. With an eighth title on the line for Federer, it will be interesting to see how he performs on Wednesday.