Swiss tennis star Roger Federer won the Halle Open for the ninth time in his career after defeating 20-year-old German Alexander Zverev in the final with a 6-1 and 6-3 win in 53 minutes.
Federer took away Zverev’s weapons from the start of the match, using powerful serves, backspin shots and stunning back hands to avoid long exchanges and win his fourth tournament this season and the 92nd of his career.
Last year Zverev defeated Federer in the semifinals of this tournament 7-6, 5-7 and 6-3, but went on to lose in the finals to fellow German Florian Mayer.
This year the Swiss learned his lesson well and defeated Zverev in straight sets to take a 2-1 advantage in their head-to head series against an opponent that looked inexperienced and lacked patience to avoid unforced errors.
In the first set, the German looked too nervous, unable to respond to Federer’s powerful strokes. The Swiss overpowered Zvered as he toyed with him and left him with no answers.
In fact, Federer raced to a 4-0 lead before wrapping up the first set in 22 minutes and leaving Zverev no occasion to threaten his serve.
In the second, there was a shy reaction from Zverev, but it was only a false glimmer of hope. The German, in addition, injured his left ankle when he tried to reach one of Federer’s backspin shots and had to receive medical attention on the court.
In under an hour Federer broke Zverev’s will using powerful strokes and masterful spin shots to win the tournament without having yielded a single set during the week and beating both Zverev brothers on the way.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion was surprised by German veteran Tommy Haas on his return from the two-month break last week in Stuttgart but brushed off any doubts over his form in Halle.
