Federer Wins 10th Title At Halle

Roger Federer won his 10th Halle Open title, defeating  David Goffin 7-6 (2), 6-1. This was Federer’s 13th final in Halle and his third trophy this year following wins in Miami and Dubai. It was Federer’s 102nd title overall.

Federer struggled early on with a couple of three set matches but got his grove as the tournament went on. This is the ideal Wimbledon preparation Federer could have hoped for.

Federer first played the Halle Open as an 18-year-old in 2000, when both his current coach, Ivan Ljubicic, and Goffin’s coach, Thomas Johansson, played it, too  But the old man is staying playing at 37 and winning!

His main rivals for the Wimbledon title, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal decided not to play any grass court tournaments prior to Wimbledon. French Open finalist Dominic Thiem was originally scheduled to play Halle but pulled out.

Other dark horse contenders for Wimbledon include Matteo Berrettini (Stuggart winner), Felix-Auger Aliassime (Stuggart finalist and Queens semifinalist), Sasha Zverev (still struggling, but less so than a few months ago) and Stefanos Tsitsipas

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Noventi Becomes Title Sponsor of Grass Court Tournament At Halle

After twenty-six years, the Wimbledon warm-up tournament, the Gerry Weber Open will have a new title sponsor Noventi.  The tournament will be called the Noventi Open.

The ATP 500 tournament has been on the ATP calendar since 1993.  The Weber, clothing manufacturer for whom the tournament is named, and his partner, Udo Hardieck took a big chance at the time going against the established Queen’s tournament held at the same time in London.

Unfortunately, Gerry Weber AG has not done well during the past decade. In recent years, rumors of shaky finances began to be heard in the press, and at the same time, Weber’s health took a turn for the worse. All of these circumstances led to the financial collapse of the once profitable company.

That’s when Noventi stepped in and took over.  The tournament has featured Roger Federer for almost 2 decades and the Maestro has a lifetime contract with the tournament.

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