Scrappy win gets Federer in Halle final

Halle, June 23

Roger Federer booked his 12th career final at the ATP Halle grass tournament on Saturday, beating qualifier Denis Kudla 7-6 (7/1) 7-5. 

The Swiss needs to win the title on Sunday — it would be his tenth at the event — to remain world No. 1 heading into Wimbledon. He will face Croatian Borna Coric in the final as Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut withdrew from their semifinal match due to physical issues. Bautista was leading 3-2 in the first set when he decided to withdraw after consulting the tournament physiotherapist. 

Federer needed just under 90 minutes to get the job done and hold off the 109th-ranked Kulda, who had not lost a set going into the semis. Taming Kulda was no easy task, with Federer losing a break after taking an early 2-0 lead. The first set went into a tiebreaker where the 20-time Grand Slam winner was able to step his game up a gear, racing to 6-0 in the decider and taking it two points later with his seventh ace.

The top-seeded Swiss kept the pressure on Kudla in the second, with the qualifier saving break points before Federer salvaged three of his own to square the set at four games apiece, sealing his effort with an ace, one of his dozen in the match. Federer gained the crucial service break for a 6-5 lead as Kudla returned long, and the Swiss closed out the victory a game later on the first of two match points.

Cilic vs Djokovic in Queen’s final

London: Marin Cilic powered into his fourth Queen’s Club final as the Croatian won the battle of the big servers with a 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/4) victory over Nick Kyrgios. Novak Djokovic ended his final drought as the former world No. 1 reached his first title match for a year with a 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 win against Jeremy Chardy. — Agencies