Italy's Andreas Sippi is one name, which Roger Federer will not forget easily after the Italian threw the Swiss ace out of the year's first grand slam, Australian Open 2015, in the third round of the competition.
But Federer will have a chance to take revenge when he takes on Andreas Sippi in the finals of the Gerry Weber Open finals on Sunday in Halle, Germany. Federer has always been one of the best players on grass and when it comes to Gerry Weber Open, he is one of the most successful player in the competition.
Federer has won an incredible seven times so far and will be going for his eighth title, which can also be his third straight Gerry Weber Open title if he defeats Sippi. Federer has an amazing finals record at Gerry Weber Open, where he has only lost once, to Australian Lleyton Hewitt in 2010.
Rogere Federer has looked in good touch throughout the tournament after having only dropped a single set en route to the finals. In his final four clash against Ivo Karlovic, he put up a strong game against the big serving Croatian player. Federer defeated Karlovic in straight sets, 7-6(3) and 7-6 (4).
The scoreline just establishes the tough game between the two, which saw Federer turn triumphant. The biggest test for Federer was the way he would handle Ivo Karlovic's serve, which is one of the best in the business.
"So, it was a tough match. I knew that going in. I was struggling to read his serve in the first set, but handled it better in the second set. It was tough. It's just a bit of a grind and physically it's like easy, mentally rough," ATP official website quoted Federer as saying.
Had things gone according to plan, the finals could have been different as Sippi reached the finals with his opponent, Kei Nishikori retiring in the first set of the semi-finals due to calf injury.
"I felt it yesterday during the match and I fought through yesterday, but today [there] was a little pain this morning and I tried in the match, but I couldn't really move," said Nishikori. "It just came suddenly yesterday. So there is nothing I could do and it's very unfortunate."
Nishikori, along with Federer, were the top two seeds for Gerry Weber Open. But Sippi should consider himself lucky for having two of his opponents retired en route to the final. His quarter finals opponent Gael Monfils also retired.
Still one cannot take anything away from Sippi, who thrashed fifth seed, Tommy Robredo in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open.
Where to Watch Live
Roger Federer vs Andreas Seppi Gerry Weber Open finals is scheduled for 1pm local time (4.30pm IST, 12pm BST, 7am ET) start. The live coverage of the finals will be shown on Ten Action in India.
Viewers in the US can watch it live on Tennis Channel.
Viewers in the UK can watch Gerry Weber Open finals live on Sky Sports3 with live streaming option on Sky Go.
Audience across the world can watch the finals via live streaming on official ATP website.
