Federer reaches semis in Halle
For the sixth consecutive year, Roger Federer has reached the semifinals at the grass court tournament in Halle, Germany. He beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4 to advance, and is now 6-0 against the Bag-Man. Federer has won this tournament four straight years, and each time has gone on to win Wimbledon. The last time Federer lost here was in the semis in 2002 to Nicolas Kiefer. Guess who will be his semifinal opponent in 2008? None other than Nicolas Kiefer!
Kiefer advanced when his opponent, Micheal Llodra, retired in the first set. This will be the 14th meeting between Federer and Kiefer, with Federer having winning 10 of their previous 13 matches. I was interested to see how Federer rebounded after his stunning defeat in the finals of the French Open, and it seems as though he is right back on track. I am sure he knows the pressure is on him to win Wimbledon and regain his magic, but it’s not going to be easy, especially with the emergence of Novak Djokovic and the way Nadal is playing right now. If I was a betting man, I wouldn’t bet against Federer though.
The other semifinal match will be between German favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber and either James Blake or German wild card Andreas Beck.
Good win for Federer. If he wins this tournament it will give him a good bit of confidence going into Wimbledon.
Kiefer, I really like. I hope you will rebound fully soon. Though he has had some good wins, his form of the past hasn’t returned as of late.