Glossing over grass: Federer, Monfils reach Halle quarters; Hewitt outwits Dimitrov in London

The senior citizenry of tennis had a fine day as we reach the midway point of the first week’s preparation for Wimbledon 2013, scheduled to begin on 24^th June at the AELTC. In Halle, Roger Federer was far from convincing in a straight sets victory over wild card entrant Cedrik-Marcel Stebe to reach the quarter-finals of the Gerry Weber Open. Gael Monfils built on his upset victory over Milos Raonic by clinching an easy 6-2 6-3 passage over Jan Hernych to reach the last eight.

Over in London, Lleyton Hewitt impressed Grigor Dimitrov with a brilliant 6-4, 6-3 thumping of the Bulgarian to prove that there is some more life in the injury-ravaged body of the Aussie fighter. Tomas Berdych, making only his second appearance at the Queens Club, proved to be more than a handful for Thiemo de Bakker. Berdych won 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round where he shall meet Grega Zemlja. The 7^th seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov had a mid-match slump, but brushed aside the second set loss to clinch a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory Santiago Giraldo.

Aegon Championships

A rejuvenated Hewitt treated those present at the Queens Club in London to a timeless treat, offering a lesson in grass court tennis to the promising Dimitrov. The Aussie had exactly a hundred match wins more than his opponent and the difference in experience meant Hewitt needed only 68 minutes to oust the Bulgarian.

Hewitt needs all the matches he can play this week, after having contested just seven times this year owing to recurring niggles. The Aussie will take on the 2010 champion, Sam Querrey, to battle for a place in the quarters. “I feel like in practice, I have been hitting the ball great. It was just a matter of doing it on the match court,” said Hewitt. “My first match here wasn’t pretty, but I fought hard and got through it. That’s what I needed to do. Then today it was a classy performance.”

Dolgopolov needed 18 aces and four breaks to find a way past his obstinate Colombian opponent. Giraldo broke the Ukrainian whilst he was serving to stay in the second set at 4-5 to snatch the second set. But Dolgopolov recovered quickly to break twice in the third set to ensure victory. Wild card entrant Daniel Evans took a surprising 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 victory over Jarkko Nieminen to earn a date against Juan Martin Del Potro.

At the time of writing, Andy Murray was well on his way to victory over Nicolas Mahut – the Scot had taken the first set 6-3 and was serving at 15-0, 2-2 in the second set when rain interrupted proceedings.

Gerry Weber Open

The wounded warrior Monfils continued to make steady progress as he plots his way back up the ladder. The Frenchman dropped out of the top 100 owing to injury, but impressive runs at Bordeaux, Nice and a third round showing in Paris have helped him back up to 67^th rank. At the French Open, Monfils eliminated Berdych in the first round to arouse patriotic fervour and hope. Monfils struck seven aces and broke serve four times to score an easy victory.

Unfortunately for the Frenchman, he had to decide to skip Wimbledon to deal with a personal situation. Monfils did not disclose the details or the nature of his personal issues that have forced him to withdraw.

The top seed and favourite, Federer, was far from convincing in his first outing the grass this season. Federer broke his 166^th ranked opponent in the very first game and he doubled the advantage when Stebe dumped his forehand in the net in the fifth game. The Swiss star looked like he was coasting easy at 5-1, but Stebe rallied to hold off Federer when he was serving for the set. All the good work was undone though, when the German found the net again in the next game with a cross court backhand to end the set.

In the second set, Federer imposed himself with an early break when Stebe erred again to overcook his forehand. The Swiss settled into cruise control from 3-0, but had to overcome a minor blip at the end before sealing victory. Federer gifted a double fault, his second of the match, at match point to delay to the inevitable but made amends immediately. A crisply cut backhand volley put Federer in the quarters, where he will play Mischa Zverev. The 156^th ranked German defeated Mirza Basic 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach the last eight. Basic had created an upset in the earlier round when he defeated Jerzy Janowicz.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny upset fourth seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-7(4) 6-3 is just over two hours to reach the quarters. Youzhny saved three of four break points while breaking Nishikori four times to seal victory in three entertaining sets. The Russian awaits the winner of the German affair between Tobias Kamke and Philipp Kohlschreiber on Thursday. Monfils will take on the winner between defending champion Tommy Haas and Ernests Gulbis.