Roger Federer qualified for the quarterfinals of the Halle Open (Germany) after beating local player Mischa Zverev, ranked 29th in the world, 7-6 and 6-4.
Federer, currently number five in the ATP ranking and winner of 18 Grand Slam tournaments, will now face another German, Florian Mayer (134th in the world), who shocked Frenchman Lucas Pouille (15th in the world) in three sets by a score of 6-7, 6-4 and 6-3.
After a break of more than two months, the 35-year-old Swiss chose Stuttgart and Halle to prepare for Wimbledon, where he aims for an eighth title. Last week, however, he lost in his first match in Stuttgart against Tommy Haas, a veteran who is ranked 302nd in the standings.
Against the oldest Zverev brother, Federer showed more determination, although his game is still not as bright as it was earlier in the year when it allowed him to dominate in the first part of the season, when he won the Australian Open, the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Masters.
The eight-times Halle Open winner and former world number one, has a relatively comfortable path to the final, as five of the eight top seeds were eliminated in the first two rounds.
The other two ‘survivors’, young German prodigy Alexander Zverev (Mischa’s youngest brother) and Spanish Roberto Bautista (number 19) will face each other in the quarters and are not in Federer’s side of the draw.
Before Federer’s win, the Halle fans saw Japanese Kei Nishikori, ranked ninth in the world, abandon his match due to a hip injury he suffered while playing against Russian Karen Khachanov, ranked 38th.
Nishikori, who was losing 3-2 in the first set when he had to abandon, later told the media that the doctors that examined him told him that he would be recovered by the time Wimbledon starts.
