Federer joined an elite club in Halle
|
World number five Roger Federer beat Nicolas Kiefer 6-1 6-3 in the Halle Open final to win his first ATP grass-court title.
The Swiss top seed's fourth title of the year puts him in an elite group of 12 active players to have won on all four surfaces - grass, clay, hard courts and indoors.
And it handed Federer sweet revenge for last year's Halle loss to local favourite Kiefer.
Federer began the match in fine style, racing to a 5-0 lead as his opponent struggled to find any form.
Kiefer, runner-up to Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 2002, stopped the rot by holding serve in the sixth game.
But his was only a temporary reprieve as the Swiss served out for the set.
A cruel net cord gave Federer a break in the third game of the second set, after which he romped away with the match.
~RS~a~RS~Domestic~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~21~RS~){kind=small}
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
