Gerry Weber Open, Halle

Men’s Semi-final: [CR5] Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs. [CR45] Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Will the stars remain aligned tomorrow in the final to give Seppi his second victory over Federer and his first Halle title? If he wins, it will be the second grass court title of his career. It’s not the way Seppi hoped to get to the final; however, he will take it.  For the second consecutive match, Seppi advanced due to an injured opponent. He made it to the semi-finals due to an injured Gael Monfils, defeating him 6-1, 1-0 (RET).  Today he advanced to the final with a 4-1 (RET) defeat of an injured Kei Nishikori and will face Roger Federer.

Going into the 2015 Australian Open, Seppi had never won a match against Federer. Then, Federer led their head-to-head 10:0 and Seppi had only ever won one set against Federer. No one expected it to change that day when they met in the third round. It was the upset of the day when Federer lost to Seppi, shock waves rolled around the grounds for a few days. Federer righted the ship in their subsequent encounter, easily defeating Seppi in the third round of Indian Wells. However, that one victory may be enough to give Seppi the belief that he can defeat Federer again.  Is he delusional or can he upset Federer on his favorite surface?