2018 ATP Halle

Big Weekend for Croatia as Marin Cilic and Borna Coric Score Final Upsets
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Queens

Marin Cilic defeated Novak Djokovic 5-7 7-6 6-3 to capture the Queens Club title, the result is a big one for Cilic as he won the match despite a steep h2h disadavantage against the Serbian superstar and he came back from a set down to win.

Cilic claimed his first title of 2018 after wins against Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Muller, Sam Querrey, and Nick Kyrgios to reach the final. He dropped sets to Muller and Djokovic but all in all put together a tremendous week on grass against solid competition that suggests he could win the Wimbledon title in a few weeks time.

Djokovic is rounding into form on grass as he blitzed past John Millman, Grigor Dimitrov, Adrian Mannarino, and Jeremy Chardy to reach the final without dropping a set. Alongside Cilic he will have a great chance of winning Wimbledon.

Henri Kontinen and John Peers defeated Murray/Soares in the doubles final.

ATP Halle

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Croatia’s Borna Coric stunned Roger Federer 7-6 3-6 6-2 in Halle to claim his second career ATP title, this time on grass as a massive underdog. Coric didn’t drop a set until the final as he blitzed past Alexander Zverev, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Andreas Seppi, and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Federer struggled while reaching the final, as he was challenged by Aljaz Bedene, Benoit Paire, Matthew Ebden, and Denis Kudla. Coric was his toughest opponent of the tournament and at that point he finally suffered a loss. His first on grass this season.

Kubot/Melo beat the Zverev brothers to win the doubles final.

Roger Federer Looks to Keep It Rolling at ATP Halle 500
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The Gerry Weber Open, an ATP 500 event on grass in Halle, Germany is a pivotal warmup on the road to Wimbledon. Here is your look at all the action that is ahead.

Top Half:

Roger Federer should ease past Aljaz Bedene and Benoit Paire/Steve Johnson to reach the quarterfinals. Australia’s Matt Ebden is solid on grass and I have him meeting Federer in the quarters after defeating Malek Jaziri and Philipp Kohlschreiber or Marton Fucsovics. Federer should reach the semis regardless.

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Dominic Thiem, who wants to compete at Wimbledon, should be good enough on grass to defeat Mikhail Youzhny and Max Marterer or Yuichi Sugita to reach the quarters. Lucas Pouille has a tough opening match against Stefanos Tsitsipas but if he wins that he should defeat Denis Kudla/Lukas Lacko and then upset Thiem in the quarters to setup a semi against Federer.

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Bottom Half:

Alexander Zverev faces off with Borna Coric in a highlight worthy round 1 contest the relatively in-form home favorite should see off Coric and countryman Peter Gojowczyk (or Rudolf Molleker) to reach the quarterfinals. Rosmalen champ Richard Gasquet looks set to defeat Florian Mayer and Andreas Seppi/Matteo Berrettini to reach the quarters opposite Zverev, who I’ll back as the favorite.

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With just Matthias Bachinger and Mischa Zverev or Karen Khachanov in his path, Kei Nishikori looks set to reach the quarters and defeat Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut at that stage. RBA opens with J.L. Struff, Robin Haase or Joao Sousa will follow.

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Predictions

semis
Federer d. Pouille
Zverev d. Nishikori

Look for Germany’s Zverev to have a nice run at home but Federer should take home the title and retain #1 regardless.

final
Federer d. Zverev