HALLE, June 21, 2019

For the 15th time in his last 15 appearances, Roger Federer has reached the semi-finals of the NOVENTI Open in Halle. The No. 1 seed of the ATP 500 grass-court event fought past Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-5 on Friday afternoon.

Federer won 54 per cent of the total points played to advance in one hour and 53 minutes. “It was a really close, a typical grass-court match in the end. Only a few points made the difference in the end,” Federer said.

Another day, another scare, but another win for RF! 😅@rogerfederer defeats Bautista Agut 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to make the #NoventiOpen19 semis 👏

🎥: @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/dudNE6rtPi

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) 21. Juni 2019

Federer will next face Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who benefited from the retirement of defending champion Borna Coric from Croatia. The Frenchman was leading 7-5 when Coric was forced to stop playing due to a harmstring injury.

Ealier in the day, David Goffin knocked out No. 2 seed and local favourite Alexander Zverev, winning 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(3). The 28-year-old from Belgium withstood 14 aces, breaking his opponent’s serve four times to prevail after two hours and 16 minutes.

“I started to serve badly [after the first set] and also didn’t play good in the rallies. Things can go fast against a player like him if that is the case,” said Zverev, as quoted on the ATP Tour website. “I can also take the positives. I played three great matches here. Today’s match was a high-quality one and so were the first two rounds. Of course, I am not happy that I lost, but I feel good for Wimbledon. Let’s see how things will go there.”

Goffin will next take on red-hot Matteo Berrettini, who continued his great great run of form, notching his eighth match win during this year’s grass-court swing. The 23-year-old Italian, who clinched the ATP Tour titles in Budapest and Stuttgart this season, knocked off No. 3 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia. Berrettini saved all four break points he faced, capitalizing on two of his own 11 chances to secure a 6-2, 7-6(4) victory in one hour and 29 minutes.

What a season this guy is having 🤩

Matteo Berrettini just keeps winning 🙈

🎥: @TennisTV | #NoventiOpen19 pic.twitter.com/siBBILevfX

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) 21. Juni 2019