Seventh Title for Federer, Ana Claims Her First Grass Court Title
Seventh Title for Federer, Ana Claims Her First Grass Court Title
Roger Federer of Switzerland has just scored his seventh title at the Gerry Weber Open beating Colombian player Alejandro Falla in a scintillating match. Falla fell 7-6(2) and 7-6(3). Feder scored a big win in a match that lasted 1 hour 28 minutes in Halle. The players earned a single break in the first set and the second frame did not have a single break.
Federer of course took control in both tiebreakers. The Swiss player was playing his ninth Gerry Weber Open final. Federer successfully defended the only title he has won last season. Tennis ace Federer drove the point home at the grass-court warm up tournament for the ninth time at Hall as he defeated Kei Nishikori in a match in straight sets.
Facing Colombia's Alejandro Falla, he was more fortunate than Davis Cup teammate Stanislas Wawrinka who lost to Grigor Dimitrov from Bulgaria in the semifinals of the Queen's Club event. Federer defeated Nishikori 6-3, 7-6 in 73 minutes flat to finally go in to defend his seventh title at the Gerry Weber Open tournament. But top seed Warwinka was less fortunate. He lost to Dimitrov who has also earned the name “Baby Federer” for his similar playing style.
Federer fired 5 aces and saved 3 of the 5 break points faced to win the match in 1 hour, 28 minutes. The 32 year old player has now claimed his 14th title on grass and the 79th overall. The 7 time Wimbledon champion has improved his record to 46-5 in 12 appearances at the tournament where he debuted 14 years before. Its a full circle for Federer. Interestingly, this was Federer's seventh win from 7 meetings with Falla.
69th ranked Falla was the first Colombian to get to the final of the grass court tournament. He was playing his second on tour after losing to Ivo Karlovic in Bogota last year. While veteran player Federer scored an impressive win, Ana Ivanovic captured her first grass-court title nearly 10 years after winning straight sets over Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova during the Aegon Classic.
Ana also beat Zahlavova-Strycova, 6-3, 6-2, with her opponent also playing in her first major tournament final. While Ivanovic started shaky on the second day, and dropped serve immediately, she recovered in time to use her heavy ground strokes and attack her unseeded opponent. The 26 year old has shown that she can adapt to variable surface. It is Ana's 37th win and her 3rd title this year. She has now totalled Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova when it comes to notching 3 titles this year. The Serb shared how she shortened her swing an moved forward. She stressed that clarity of mind helped her in her goal.
With this win, Ana moves to world number 11 and she could make another move during the Wimbledon. As Ana looks all set to one day enter the top 10 list, it becomes evident that the Serb is on a winning streak. She won the Maud Watson Cup which was also presented to the English player when she won the first every Wimbledon. Ana sees the world's oldest title as a challenge. She has the right spirit to tackle this interesting challenge.
