Federer comes through at Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany after tough French Open Loss (6/06)
Roger Federer came through again in the Gerry Weber Open in
of the French Open the week before. He beat Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 to claim his 41st consecutive
victory on Grass, equaling Bjorn Borg’s record. He also improved his dominance over any player not
named Nadal. He is undefeated against all other players and 0-4 this year vs. Nadal. It didn’t
come easy though this tournament. He not only was coming off an emotional loss in Paris, but he
had a tough draw and had won his last 4 matches in 3 sets. First he beat tough young Frenchman,
Richard Gasquet (He beat Federer last year in the quarterfinals at
scare vs. Oliver Rochus of
Federer everything he could and had 4 match points against him before losing. Federer vs. Rochus is pictured below.
Then came hometown hero,
Tommy Haas, who has been playing very well and actually beat Federer earlier this year at the pre-Australian
exhibition tournament which doesn’t count in the standings. Haas took him to 3 sets as well before succumbing.
Berdych had a much easier run through the bottom half of the draw especially when #2 seed, Nicolas
Kiefer withdrew due to injury from the French Open.
The young Czech Berdych has climbed into the Top 20 and his game is dramatically improving. He also
had beaten Federer once before at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. I talked with Berdych after his earlier
matches and asked him about his game and playing on grass and getting ready for Federer. He
seemed a bit reserved saying he hasn’t played too much on grass and is just gaining experience.
With his big serve, he is looking like he will be one of the best young players for years to come.
For more info or tickets for next year, please visit www.gerryweber-open.de
