Roger Federer warmed up for Wimbledon nicely by landing his first title of the year on Sunday.
Roger Federer warmed up for Wimbledon nicely by landing his first title of the year on Sunday, beating Mikhail Youzhny to secure the Gerry Weber Open, coming from a set down to win 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4.
The Swiss ace has endured something of a barren run of late, but his triumph in Halle has now seen him join John McEnroe in third place in the career titles list with 77.
Federer has now won the Halle trophy, his 13th tour-level grass-court success, for the sixth time in his career – but first since 2008, and will now head to SW19 full of confidence as he looks to add to his haul of seven Wimbledon titles.
The 31-year-old had his chances in a tough opening set but spurned five break-point opportunities and was made to pay as Youzhny took control by winning the tie-break after a little under an hour’s play.
However, Federer upped his game from then on, cutting down his error count to break in the eighth game of the second set and the seventh in the decider to finally end his drought.
“I’ve won a lot but not so much in the last 10 months, although I feel I’d been playing well. But the others were playing better,” Federer said.
“Mikhail has produced a great tournament, that’s why I’m so happy to have won.
“I had to fight hard to remain in the race in the second set. I served well (he produced 12 aces) and that’s what saved me today.”
Federer is of course the defending champion at Wimbledon, which gets underway on June 24, after beating Andy Murray in last year’s final, before the British number one gained revenge in the Olympics.
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