1 Response to halle03federer_kiefer

1. Voo de Mar says:

   March 6, 2022 at 11:47 am

   Points won by each set: | 29-13, 31-22 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   31 % Federer – 14 of 45
   24 % Kiefer – 12 of 50

   Federer’s last event before becoming a Grand Slam champion. All the best things were yet to come for him, but what he achieved in the first half of 2003 was already quite impressive at some level – namely he had won four events in that year in four different conditions: Marseille (hard indoors), Dubai (hard outdoors), Munich (clay) and Halle (grass).
   That perfect serve-and-volley match against Kiefer [73] was important for Federer [5] in terms of overcoming opponents he had been struggling against. Prior to Halle, Federer trailed 1:3 in their rivalry, the one-sided victory rewrote the script and their H2H is finished at 12-3; over the years when Federer was defeating Kiefer eleven times in a row, the German had his vague chances to win just once (Cincinnati ’05). “A lot of people criticised me after Paris (first round defeat),” Federer said, “but to win a grasscourt event, and a big one like this, is for me the perfect preparation for Wimbledon. The result today says everything. This was my best match of the week. Maybe Kiefer didn’t play his best but I think that was because of my game.”

   Federer’s route to his 8th title:
   1 Sargis Sargsian 7-5, 6-1
   2 Fernando Vicente 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
   Q Younes El Aynaoui 7-5, 7-6(3)
   S Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2
   W Nicolas Kiefer 6-1, 6-3

   Serve & volley: Federer 17/20, Kiefer 2/6

   # Federer was three points away from losing to Youzhny

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