Reuters, Halle :
Roger Federer won the Halle Open for a record-extending eighth time on Sunday by beating Italy’s Andreas Seppi 7-6(1) 6-4 in a successful dress rehearsal on grass ahead of Wimbledon.
Defending champion Federer, who has now won Halle more times than any other tournament, captured a fourth title this year after victories at Istanbul, Dubai and Brisbane to take his career haul to 86.
The Swiss top seed saved two set points on his serve, trailing 5-4 in the first set and dug deep to level.
He then crushed the Italian, who won just one point, in the tiebreak to grab the first set after an hour.
Seppi, who reached his second final of the year after Gael Monfils and second seed Kei Nishikoriretired in his two previous matches, earned another break opportunity at 2-2 but he sent a backhand into the net.
World number two Federer then squandered three breakpoints at 4-3, allowing Seppi to hold on and win the 10-minute game.
He did everything right, however, two games later to earn two match points and finished off the contest with a spectacular overhead smash.
