Federer wins 8th Halle title

Roger Federer showed he is ready for Wimbledon by defeating Andreas Seppi 7-6 (1), 6-4 on Sunday to claim his record eighth Gerry Weber Open title.

Despite not replicating the free-flowing tennis of previous rounds, Federer dug deep to win big points. He broke the 45th-ranked Seppi for the first time at the fifth attempt in the decisive moment.

“Of course it’s a special moment for me, to win here for the eighth time before Wimbledon. It doesn’t happen without making an impression,” Federer said.

The 17-time Grand Slam winner sealed his 15th title from 20 finals on grass and his 86th career title. lleyton Hewitt is next on grass with eight titles.

Federer took the first of his five set points in the tiebreaker and Seppi missed another break point opportunity early in the second when he hit into the net.

Federer’s first break chances came at 4-3 in the second set but Seppi won all three to level. It seemed only a matter of time, however, before Federer made the only break, which was enough for the title.

This is Federer’s fourth title of the season after wins at Brisbane, Dubai and Istanbul, and a timely boost for Wimbledon eight days before the tournament begins.

Murray wins Queen’s crown

london: Andy Murray claimed his 34th career title on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over unseeded Kevin Anderson in the Final of the Queen’s Club tournament.

Top-seeded Murray, who was contesting his 50th career final, also won the event in 2009, 2011 and 2013.It was Murray’s third title of the year, following victories in Munich and Madrid.

Earlier Sunday, the third-ranked Murray completed a 6-3, 7-6 (4) semifinal win over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki after rain stopped play on Saturday.

Murray did not face a break point in the match but Anderson, who had dropped serve just once during the week, was broken once in each set. The first break came when Murray led 2-1, with Anderson netting a smash, and Murray moved ahead 3-2 in the second set with a drop shot.

Bopanna, Paes lose

Halle/london: Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea ended runners-up at the Gerry Weber Open following a surprise straight sets defeat to Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram. The second-seeded Indo-Romanian pair lost the summit clash 6-7(5), 2-6. Bopanna and Mergea had come into the event after wining the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.leander Paes and Daniel Nestor put up stiff resistance before losing the semifinal of the Queen’s Club tournament to Nenad Zimonjic and Marcin Matkowski 3-6, 6-7 (8).