By Chris Oddo | Sunday, June 15, 2014
Roger Federer pushed past Alejandro Falla, 7-6(2), 7-6(3), to claim his record seventh title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.
Photo Source: Thomas Starke/ Bongarts/Getty
Roger Federer continued his dominance at the Gerry Weber Open on Sunday, taking down Colombia’s Alejandro Falla, 7-6(2), 7-6(3), to claim his record seventh title at the event.
Video: Roger Federer Loses Track of Score in Halle
Federer was forced to battle through two tense sets with the left-hander that had once pushed him to five sets and even held a match point at Wimbledon in 2010, but in the tiebreakers, some decisive hitting and letter-perfect serving helped the 17-time Grand Slam champion gain the upper hand.
Federer improves his career record to 46-5 at Halle, and he nudges his all-time best record on grass to 125-18, with 14 titles on the surface. He was won a title on grass in ten of the last 12 seasons.
Federer broke Falla to take a 5-3 lead in the first set, but was broken back immediately in the next game.
After falling behind 2-1 in the first-set tiebreaker, Federer reeled off the next six points to take the set.
Federer looked to put some distance between himself and the left-handed Colombian when he broke Falla in the first game of the second set, but the the world No. 69 quickly answered when he converted his third break point of the next game to level.
Neither player would face a break point for the rest of the set, but it would be Federer once again to take charge in the tie-breaker as he notched the mini-break in the first game of the second-set tiebreaker and didn’t drop a point on serve the rest of the way.
Throughout the match Federer relied on big serving and opportunistic net play to keep his opponent at bay. Federer won 38 of 46 first-serve points on the afternoon, and for the second straight day, he converted on both break point opportunities that he saw.
Federer improves to 7-0 against Falla, including 5-0 on grass. The Colombian had been bidding for his first career ATP title.