The dress rehearsal for Wimbledon was messed up by the German aces. The quarter-finals of the grass court tournament in Halle/Westphalia will take place without a local hero for the first time since 1996.
Roger Federer has always been in the spotlight in Halle; according to him, the record Grand Slam winner from Switzerland “almost feels like a local”. But it wasn’t only Federer’s top class or his special connection to the tournament in East Westphalia-Lippe that the fans’ attention on Friday was fully focused on the world number one.
Due to Germany’s worst performance in the Wimbledon hardness test since 1996, the 36-year-old record winner was the last remaining driving force in the singles before the quarter-finals. “With the 2015 tournament upgrade to the status of a 500-man tournament on the ATP Tour, there will be a significantly higher performance density in the field of participants, so there will also be significantly heavier games for German players in the opening rounds,” Halle tournament director Ralf Weber told SID about the collective early elimination of the German starters.
On Thursday, former Halle winners Philipp Kohlschreiber (Augsburg) and Florian Mayer (Bayreuth) were the last Germans to be eliminated in the round of 16. A total of eight Germans had started in Halle. Six, including third in the world rankings Alexander Zverev (Hamburg), failed in the first round.
At Stuttgart’s Weissenhof at the start of the grass court season last week, none of the seven Germans who had started into the round of the last eight. About a week before Wimbledon (from 2 July/Sky) the German players seem to be out of shape.
“The tournaments before Wimbledon were not as you imagined. Let’s hope that the most important grass court tournament gets better,” said Kohlschreiber.
Alexander and Mischa Zverev are the last remaining German players in the semi-finals of the doubles competition. The two from Hamburg beat Tim Pütz (Frankfurt) and Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) 6:3, 4:6, 10:3 on the full Court 1 on Thursday.
“Of course we would have liked our German star Alexander Zverev to have been in the fight for the title on the final weekend. But the preparation for his start with us was difficult,” said Weber.
Last year’s second seeded finalist Zverev retired without much preparation for grass against the Croatian Borna Coric after his thigh injury dragged along from the French Open. For his brother Mischa, who was almost ten years older, the match against the Russian Karen Khachanov also ended directly at the beginning.
At least in doubles both can continue to collect important match practice on grass before the highlight Wimbledon. “The conditions here are ideal for Wimbledon,” said Alexander Zverev.
On the other hand, there was room for improvement in the performance of the favourites. Only Federer and the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (No. 4) made it from the seeded players around French Open finalist Dominic Thiem into the quarter-finals.
Even Federer had to tremble in the round of sixteen. Against the Frenchman Benoit Paire he fended off two match points in the tiebreak in the third set. Time literally stood still in the stands. “It’s a wonderful feeling to experience this support from the fans. It’s an honor to have the stadium practically full in the first few laps.”
The cheering was all the louder when Federer turned his third match point and entered the quarter-finals as the last remaining “German” in the tournament. And tournament director Weber promised: “He will continue to be associated with the Gerry Weber Open after his career”.