Federer Glides Through Halle Opener as Tsonga Falls at Queens

By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: Dennis Grombkowski/Bongarts/Getty Images

By Erik Gudris

(June 14th, 2012) As both the Gerry Weber Open in Halle and the Aegon Championships in London wind their way to the quarterfinals, each tournament is taking on a very different feel as one is becoming something of a free for all while the other is keeping the status quo going with the top seeds earning comfortable early round wins.

More Seeds Drop at Queen's Club

The surprise exit of top seed Andy Murray yesterday appears to have been a bellwether for more upsets as No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was pushed for over two hours by Croatia's Ivan Dodig. Dodig took the first set in a tiebreak only to see Tsonga claim the second and stay level with Dodig for most of the final set that ended in yet another tiebreak. But it was Dodig who edged out Tsonga 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 to reach the quarterfinals.

The biggest concern for Tsonga now is not the loss but an apparent broken finger he suffered in a fall during the match. Tsonga said afterwards he would have his finger examined again though at the moment the injury does put him in doubt for Wimbledon.

Dodig will now face 2010 champion Sam Querrey who upset No. 8 seed Julian Benneteau 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. In another mild upset, No. 9 seed Kevin Anderson outlasted No. 5 seed Feliciano Lopez in two tiebreaks 7-6, 7-6 in a match that featured only one break of serve for each player. Anderson will next play Grigor Dimitrov who came back from being down 3-5 in the first set to take out Nicolas Mahut, the man who defeated Andy Murray yesterday, 7-6, 6-4.

Federer and Nadal Take to the Grass in Halle

While the top seeds are struggling in London, that isn't the case in Halle at the Gerry Weber Open that saw two former Wimbledon champions start their 2012 grass court campaigns in winning style.

Top seed Rafael Nadal, playing at the event for the first time in seven years, was broken early in the first set against Lukas Lacko before Nadal won eight of the last nine games to earn a 7-5, 6-1 victory. Waiting for Nadal in the next round is last year's champion Philipp Kohlschreiber who survived losing the first set to then go on and win 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 over Lukasz Kubot.

No. 2 seed Roger Federer, a five-time winner at Halle, got a good test against Florian Mayer in their opening round match. But Federer, who served 71% first serves and was never broken during the match, was just too good for Mayer as Federer won 6-4, 7-5 in just over 75 minutes. Federer will next meet No. 5 seed Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals.