Roger Federer on Sunday thrashed Alexander Zverev to win his ninth Gerry Weber Open title and admitted he is feeling fresh ahead of his assault on an eighth Wimbledon crown next month.
The top seed lost his first match of the grass-court season last week in Stuttgart, Germany, to Tommy Haas, but was in imperious form all week in Halle, culminating in the 6-1, 6-3 final victory over home favorite Zverev.
Federer heads to Wimbledon, which starts on Monday next week, as favorite to win an outright record eighth title and surpass the mark of seven he shares with Pete Sampras.
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“I was doubting myself a little bit, I must admit, because losing in the opening round for the first time in 15 years on grass was always going to shake me a little bit and it did,” Federer said. “So I’m happy to react right away and let that be forgotten, and actually move on and remind myself I actually can play well on grass.”
Rome Masters champion Zverev had won all three of his previous finals this season, but was blown away by a vintage performance from 18-time Grand Slam champion in only 53 minutes.
AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS
AP, LONDON
Feliciano Lopez on Sunday saved a match point as he came from behind to beat Marin Cilic of Croatia and claim the biggest title of his career at Queen’s Club in London.
The 35-year-old Spaniard failed to break the serve of fourth seed Cilic throughout the final, but fought back to win 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (10/8).
In the deciding tiebreaker, Lopez saved a match point when trailing 6-5 with a forehand volley, before sealing victory at the third attempt.
A beaten finalist in 2014 when he failed to capitalize on a match point against Grigor Dimitrov, Lopez once more displayed his skills on grass.
“I cannot believe that I’ve finally won this trophy,” Lopez said. “It’s the best week of my career — to win this tournament at this stage of my career, it’s so amazing. It’s tough to put that match point [in 2014] away from my mind. I was serving for the match again, it was so difficult to handle my nerves.”
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