Gerry Weber Open: Federer rides a double bagel bicycle to reach semifinal

In the first of the quarterfinal matches at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Roger Federer served a master class in grass court tennis to the hapless Mischa Zverev to reach the semi-finals. The Swiss needed less than 40 minutes to put the Russian out of his misery in a lopsided duel that ended 6-0, 6-0. The last time Federer handed a double bagel was in 2005 against Gaston Gaudio at the Masters Cup in Shanghai. In Federer’s own Switzerland, they often refer to the double bagel as a bicycle.

Federer clinched his spot in the last four on his second match point, breaking his opponent for a sixth time. The victory marked Federer’s 9^th foray into the semifinals of the event that has been the Swiss maestro’s favoured choice in preparing for Wimbledon.

The dominant Federer lost just eight points on his serve as he took down Zverev with missionary zeal to take his count of bagels to 102. Federer completed his century when he dealt one to Malek Jaziri after losing the first set in their second round match at Dubai earlier this year.

In an almost perfect match, Federer faced not a single break point, even as he converted 6 of 10 opportunities on his opponent’s serve in completing the whitewash. In one of the shortest tennis matches in recent memory, Federer took less than 21 minutes to complete the first set and only 19 to take the second set. The entire match lasted 39 minutes and 34 seconds.

After stumbling at the gates, Zverev tried his best to prevent a second break in the fourth game of the first set. The Russian fought hard, saving two break points to stretch the game into its 12^th point, but Federer took the break on his third opportunity to take a 4-0 lead.

With the first set done before Zverev could even smell the grass, Federer continued the rout by taking a 3-0 lead at the start of the second set. Desperate to keep the clothes on him, Zverev fought to save a break point in the next game but could not prevent the break.

A Monaco resident, Zverev even pushed Federer to deuce in the fifth game but that was to be thre end of his meagre resistance. Federer won six of the next seven points to put the match to bed in a hurry, and advance to his ninth semifinal in eleven appearances at the Gerry Weber Open.

”It’s not something which is easy to do. You never go into a match aiming for that score,” Federer said. ”I was very surprised that it happened today, especially on grass.” Speaking for Zverev and explaining how he won, Federer added, ”I hope he doesn’t take it too badly. ‘I just had a pretty easy time picking up his serve, and I must have made a ton of returns.”

Federer awaits the winner between Gael Monfils and Tommy Haas to battle for a place in the finals on Sunday. Haas had defeated Federer for the title last year in a victory that marked a remarkable resurgence in the injury marred career of the 35 year old German.