Federer Inches Closer to First Title of 2013
In typical Roger Federer fashion, he easily beat his opponent, Mischa Zverev 6-0, 6-0 to reach the Gerry Weber Open semifinals on Friday. Zverev tried to stick to his strategy to serve and volley, but in the end, it did not pay off for him. Frenchman Richard Gasquet, also made the semifinals by beating Florian Mayer 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Federer’s win against 156th-ranked Zverev only took 39 minutes. This win was Federer’s second double bagel score of his career, the first coming against Gaston Gaudio at the 2005 Masters Cup in Shanghai.
”It’s not something which is easy to do. You never go into a match aiming for that score. I think it is disappointing for a serve and volley player to go down like this. It shows also how easy it is to hit passing shots or returns today,” Federer said.
The next player up for Federer is Tommy Haas, who Federer lost to in last year’s final. Haas had to get past Gael Monfils, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3, to make it to the semifinals. Federer said he would have liked to see Zverev have won a few games, it never crossed his mind to give Zverev any free points. Federer’s only 6-0, 6-0 loss came when he was only eight-years-old. After his tough loss, Zverev said, ”I’d rather lose 6-0, 6-0 to Roger in a quarterfinals than to a qualifier in the second round. At least there is something to talk about later.”
"It was close, he was lucky to hit a few lines at the end," said Monfils. "I play such points to win them, not just to have fun.”
