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Top seed Roger Federer (pictured) captured his fifth title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
World No. 1 Federer now extends his Open Era record winning streak to 59 matches on grass; his last loss came to Mario Ancic in the first round at Wimbledon in 2002.
The 26-year-old has also tied Pete Sampras' Open Era record by winning 10 grass court titles. Federer has a 10-0 record in grass court finals, winning Wimbledon five times since 2003 to add to his five titles in Halle.
The Swiss also improved his stellar record in Halle to 25 matches unbeaten; he captured four straight titles from 2003-06, defeating Nicolas Kiefer, Mardy Fish, Marat Safin and Tomas Berdych in the respective title matches.
Federer served six aces, converted two of four break points on Kohlschreiber’s serve, and saved both break points against him to wrap up his 32nd straight victory over German opponents in 1 hr., 13 min., in Sunday’s final. Federer has remained unbroken all week in 49 service games, marking just the second time in 55 career titles that he hasn’t dropped serve, together with his title at 2005 Doha.
"I am really excited about the way I played, never dropped a service game throughout the week," said Federer. "I couldn’t be more happy. I beat quality players and also my level of play was very good. So, I’m really pleased with my performance.
"From the baseline I was playing very smart, very well, not missing much and when I attacked, I attacked well. So, it was a good performance."
Federer, who has a 55-20 record in ATP finals, now has two titles to his name in 2008. The Oberwil resident captured his first title of the season on clay in Estoril (d. Davydenko) in April, before finishing as runner-up to Rafael Nadal at ATP Masters Series tournaments in Monte-Carlo and Hamburg and, for the third successive year, at Roland Garros, denying the 12-time Grand Slam champion a career Grand Slam.
World No. 40 Kohlschreiber was contesting his first ATP grass court final and his second ATP final of the season after winning his second ATP title in Auckland in January (d. Ferrero).
"He’s (Federer) very strong," said Kohlschreiber. "Everybody is expecting him to win. Also for me it’s just a small percentage, a small chance to maybe beat him. Of course, it was a nice memory. I think it’s always an honour to play against the best player in a sport. Today, it was a great honour. I had a very small chance in the beginning to change a little bit the game plan from him, but I could not take it. Finally, he was too strong."
The 24-year-old, who was a semifinalist in Halle last year (l. to Baghdatis), was looking for his second title on home soil after clinching the Munich title on clay last year (d. Youzhny).
The Altstaetten resident, who defeated No. 7 James Blake in the semifinals, now slips to a 9-19 lifetime record against players ranked inside the Top 10 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings.
Halle Tournament Profile | International TV Schedule | Official Website
Saturday: Federer Extends Grass Court Perfection
Friday: Federer to Meet Kiefer; Kohlschreiber to Face Blake
Thursday: Federer Marches On; Faces Baghdatis Next
Wednesday: Federer, Blake Advance; Berdych Falls
Tuesday: Blake, Youzhny, Baghdatis Ease into Second Round
Monday: Defending Champion Berdych Advances; Nieminen Falls
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