Happy with Halle Title, Federer Talks Grass-Court “Secrets”

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Happy with Halle Title, Federer Talks Grass-Court “Secrets”

Want to know a big secret about playing on grass? Well then, why not listen to the ATP’s active leader in wins (136), winning percentage (.877) and titles (15) on the surface?

More: Uncle Toni Says Rafa Improving on Grass, but Confidence Not on High Yet

After his 7-6(1), 6-4 victory over Andreas Seppi on Sunday, grass guru Roger Federer told reporters in Halle, “One big secret on grass, I guess, is [knowing] when to hit which shot and playing the score the right way. Because you might be playing perfect but then in the wrong moment you take a bad decision—grass makes you pay for it all.”

Federer said he was pleased that he was able to protect his serve and win big points at the Gerry Weber Open en route to his 8th title at the Wimbledon tune-up. After an inauspicious beginning that saw the Swiss get broken once in the first and once in the second set of his first-round match with Philipp Kohlschreiber, he responded by holding serve in his next 49 service games at Halle—from the third set of the Kohlschreiber match all the way to the title, saving 9 of 9 break points along the way. He went 6-0 in tiebreakers and has now won 11 of his last 12 breakers on grass.

Those clutch statistics pleased Federer and he says they’ll give him confidence moving forward.

“This week has been great if I look at the whole thing,” he said. “I don’t think I got broken anymore in the last four matches I played. First match was extremely close but I think I won all the breakers this week, which gives me obviously big confidence knowing that in the crucial moments my game is right there.”

Next up for Federer is Wimbledon, where he’ll bid for his 8th title at the All England Club. Based on the form he showed in Halle, last year’s runner-up appears to be in good enough form to make another run.

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