HALLE, June 21, 2015
Defending champion Roger Federer captured his eighth title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle beating Andreas Seppi 7-6, 6-4 in Sunday’s final.
The Swiss world number two, who appeared in his tenth consecutive final in Westphalia, fired 14 aces and saved all four break points he had to face. Federer celebrated his 86th ATP career title after one hour and 48 minutes. It was the 33-year-old’s third title of the season, following his victories in Brisbane, Dubai and Istanbul. Federer also extended his grass court title leadership in the Open Era to 15 and brings home € 381,760 in prize money as well as 500 ATP ranking points.
“It’s the first time I am able to win a tournament eight times. This is very special. Andreas played a great match, but my serve helped me in the deciding moments,” told Federer right after the encounter. “I think one big secret on grass is when to hit which shot and playing the score the right way. You might be playing perfect but then in one moment you take a bad decision and grass makes you pay for it all. So, this week has been great if I look at the whole thing. I don’t think I got broken the last four matches I played. The first match was extremely close but I won all the tie-breaks this week, which gives me big confidence knowing that in the crucial moments my game was right there.”
Seppi was understandably disappointed but a fair loser. “I think it was a good match. I had break points in the first set but Roger served well and played better in the important moments. Consequently, he gained another title on grass and he deserved to win.”
Tournament director Ralf Weber (photo: Gerry Weber Open)
Tournament director Ralf Weber was happy with this year’s edition and announced a new record in terms of spectator numbers. “111,000 people came to the venue during the week. We are very satisfied that we are an ATP 500 event now. Once again we had a great player’s field, maybe even better than in previous years but we want to improve all the time. We are clearly further counting on Roger Federer. He is still the most important ambassador of the tournament but our goal is to present Novak Djokovic next year here in Halle as well. We have some good contacts to his management.”
