Roger Federer reacts after losing to German teenager Alexander Zverev in the Halle Open semi-final.
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Zverev’s 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 victory over the top-seeded, eight-time defending champion gave him a place in his first final of the year.
Assessing the threat posed by 19-year-old Zverev, a 7-6 (11-9) 6-3 victor over Marcos Baghdatis on the Cypriot’s 31st birthday, Federer added: “He’s got a big serve, he’s got a nice backhand, he’s improving his forehand and he’s moving forward”. Thiem advanced on a walkover against eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber, who withdrew before the match with a hip injury.
The 19-year-old Zverev was one year old when Federer made his debut on the tour.
Zverev will face Florian Mayer on Sunday in the final after he easily edged Dominic Thiem in the second match of the day.
So, I can’t really say there’s a surface I don’t like or anything like that.
“The 1.98m (6’6”) Zverev is already guaranteed to improve his career-high ranking in Monday’s new list to inside the top 30.
He took the first set on a tie-break having lost just four points on serve and firing 14 winners.
Federer was unable to battle back from there and he fails to reach the final in Halle for the first time in his last 11 attempts. Federer held to 15 to level the match up, leading the pair into a crucial deciding third set. Zverev erased all of a 6-3 deficit in the ‘breaker and eventually fought off five set points.
Zverev and Mayer will play the first all-German final in Halle since 2011.
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He is the first teenager to defeat Federer in almost 10 years, since the Swiss fell to Andy Murray in Cincinnati in 2006.
