HALLE, Germany — Top seed Roger Federer will challenge for a ninth Halle Open title against Alexander Zverev after reaching the Wimbledon warm-up event final with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over rising Russian talent Karen Khachanov Saturday.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion, who captured the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami titles this year, skipped the entire claycourt season to improve his chances of winning a record eighth title at the All England Club.
He will now face 20-year-old Zverev in a rematch of last year's semifinal, which the German won. Zverev booked his second successive final spot when he beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Gasquet, a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist, grabbed the first set against Zverev with a break at 5-4.
But he quickly fell behind in the second as Zverev, a finalist last year, who has already won three titles in 2017, charged to a 4-2 lead and held on to take the set.
The world No. 12 booked his final spot after breaking at 3-3 and finishing the Frenchman off with another break to set up the showdown with Federer.
Despite a shock exit from Stuttgart on his comeback last week, Federer has improved in Halle and has not lost a set.
"I thought it was extremely close, especially that second set," Federer, who has never won a tournament nine times, told reporters.
Kvitova reaches first final since attack
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova beat Lucie Safarova in the Aegon Classic semifinals Saturday to reach the first final since her playing hand was injured in a knife attack at her home.
This is Kvitova's first grass-court final since her triumph at 2014 Wimbledon, though this significant achievement was tinged with anti-climax as Safarova quit with a right thigh strain after only eight games. Kvitova was leading 6-1, 1-0.
Nevertheless, Kvitova hit her groundstrokes with pace and accuracy, especially from the forehand side.
In the final, the Czech leftie will play Ashleigh Barty, an Australian who was impressive in containing former French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Whatever happens, Kvitova was already delighted with her progress.
"The hand is good, which is the best news I could have," she said. "I am not feeling any pain."
Cilic reaches Queen's final
Fourth seed Marin Cilic dropped serve for the first time all week but recovered to stop Gilles Muller in the semifinals of the Aegon Championships Saturday, winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Neither player had surrendered serve en route to the last four so it was a surprise when Cilic broke left-hander Muller in the fifth game before wrapping up the opening set quickly.
Cilic failed to convert his opportunities in the second set, however, and one lapse of concentration at 5-6 blotted his copybook to allow Muller to snatch the second set.
It was nothing more than an inconvenience though as Croatian Cilic, also in doubles semifinal action later, broke in the seventh game of the decider and powered home to victory, sealing it with a second-serve ace on match point.
Cilic, Queen's winner in 2012, will play either Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov or Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the final.
Sevastova sets up repeat clash with Garcia in Mallorca
Second seed Anastasija Sevastova dispatched Croatian Ana Konjuh to reach the semifinals of the Mallorca Open grasscourt event Friday as she bids to go one better than last year.
The tricky Latvian edged the seventh seed 7-5 1-6 7-6(5) in the holiday island sunshine to set up a clash with Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia who beat her in last year's final.
Third seed Garcia had a busy day, finishing off her second- round match against Slovakia's Jana Cepelova before returning later to beat Italy's Roberta Vinci.
Vinci had set points in the second set but Garcia avoided the potential for another match interrupted by bad light, as happened the previous night against Cepelova, as she scraped through a tense second-set tiebreak for a 6-2 7-6(8) win.
In the other half, Julia Goerges beat fellow German Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 6-4, while American Catherine Bellis beat Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2. — Agencies
