HALLE: World number five Roger Federer delivered a tennis masterclass to beat rising star Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-3 and clinch a record ninth Halle Open title here on Sunday as he lay down a marker in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

The 18-time grand slam champion, who skipped the claycourt season to prepare for grass after winning the Australian Open and titles in Indian Wells and Miami, is in ominous form and won in Halle without dropping a single set all week.

“It has been a difficult year with a lot of practice, training and rehab so I am very happy to be back on the court,” Federer said. “I do not know if I will ever be going to win this tournament again so I will enjoy this one,” said the Swiss, who has won eight Wimbledon titles.

The 35-year-old, defeated in his first comeback match in Stuttgart last week, took control from the start with an early break and kept world number 12 Zverev on his toes.

He earned a second break point with some deft volleying, which he pounced on to race through the first set in 24 minutes.

Zverev, who beat the Swiss in last year’s semi-final and has already won three titles this year, had a chance to break at the start of the second set.

But he simply could not discover a chink in Federer’s armour, even as he attempted to mix up his game by forcing the Swiss to come to the net more often.

A superb dropshot put Federer 5-2 ahead and sealed Zverev’s fate before he won the match on his first match point with a crosscourt volley.

In doing so, he became the first player to beat both Zverev brothers at the same event, having defeated older sibling Mischa in the round of 16.

On Saturday, Federer overcame rising Russian talent Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6(5) in the semi-final.

In the other semi-final, Zverev beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

LOPEZ EDGES CILIC

LONDON: Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez claimed the biggest title of his long career when he battled back to beat Marin Cilic 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(8) in a nerve-wracking final of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club on Sunday.

The 35-year-old, who suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the 2014 final when he held a match point against Grigor Dimitrov, this time saved a match point in a tense final set tiebreak before toppling the Croat.

Lopez saved his match point with a steely volley at 5-6 in the breaker before Cilic fended off two. Then, at the third time of asking, crowd favourite Lopez could celebrate after fourth seed Cilic pulled a forehand into the tramlines.

It was Lopez’s sixth career title and third on grass.

On Saturday, Lopez beat Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic won their respective semi-finals.

Lopez, the 35-year-old left-hander, beat Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

Cilic dropped serve for the first time all week but recovered quickly to win 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, ending seven-match winning streak on grass of Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.

KVITOVA SENDS WIMBLEDON WARNING

BIRMINGHAM: Petra Kvitova showed she will be a serious contender at Wimbledon after beating Australian Ashleigh Barty 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to win the Aegon Classic here on Sunday, in just her second tournament since returning from a knife attack injury.

The Czech, a Wimbledon winner in 2011 and 2014, suffered a knife attack during a robbery at her home in December that left her with a damaged hand and sidelined her until last month’s French Open.

The 27-year-old not only looked untroubled by her hand this week but she also looked back to her best with her explosive serve often too much for Barty on Sunday as she produced 13 aces.

She served out for the title in emphatic fashion — to love and ending with an ace — and celebrated in her typical understated style, with a broad smile.

Her last final on grass was her triumph at Wimbledon three years ago against Eugenie Bouchard and while her talk on arrival at Edgbaston was purely about her delight to be playing again, she clearly has bigger goals now.

“I like to play finals on grass. I wish I could have more — I won’t be sad if it is in a couple of weeks [at Wimbledon] but there is still a lot of work to be done,” she said in her on-court interview.

“It was an amazing week, an amazing tournament. From my first hits on the grass I felt great, it was encouraging to get into the grass season.”

On Saturday, Petra Kvitova’s reached the final after Lucie Safarova retired from their semi-final with a leg injury.

Kvitova was 6-1, 1-0 up at the Edgbaston Priory Club when her Czech compatriot pulled out.

Barty, in the other last-four match, upset Spain’s Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2017