When you are a 34-year old international sportsperson, chances are something or the other in the body hurts. After all there is just so much physical exertion that the human body is built to take. If your name is Tommy Haas, the reality is that your best years are far behind you, and after missing 14 months on tour everyday you spend on a tennis court is worth cherishing. Then come moments like today which make all the pain worthwhile. The former world no.2 rolled back the clock and achieved something he last did 10 years ago, beating legendary Swiss Roger Federer.

The occasion was the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, an event Federer had won 5 times previously, and one which Haas had himself won in 2009, beating Novak Djokovic in the final. Federer's luck at Halle appears to have deserted, having lost in the final to Llewitt Hewitt in 2010 after having won on each of his previous visits to the final. It had proved to be a bad omen for Federer, who made a rare exit in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon that year, and the Super Swiss will be hoping that history does not repeat itself.

One easy and one gripping semi-final later, we have Roger Federer and Tommy Haas as the finalists of the 2012 Gerry Weber Open. With every passing match Federer makes new history and if he goes on to win tomorrow's final then he will lift the title in Halle for the 6th time. The Swiss maestro breezed past Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 6-4 to make it to his seventh final in Halle, where he even has a street named after him! Federer's opponent in tomorrow's final is veteran Tommy Haas, who defeated the defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (5), 7-5 to book his spot opposite the five time champion.

The World no. 3 loves the grass courts and the grass loves the legend too, a win in Halle is just what Federer needs before the start of Wimbledon. Luckily for Federer, the 2012 London Olympics will also be played on grass courts which gives him a chance to make a go for that elusive Singles Gold. With 10 days to go for the classic and traditional English Grand Slam, Federer will want to get all the confidence that is required for him to make a comeback on the Grand stage at his favourite Slam, where the legend began his journey to greatness in 2003.

The quarterfinals at the Gerry Weber Open saw the freshly crowned French Open champion Rafael Nadal exit from the tournament after losing to local favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. The six time champion at Halle Roger Federer appeared to be on the verge of joining Nadal on the early ticket to London before he battled back from a set down to edge past 21-year old Canadian Milos Raonic 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Mikhail Youzhny won the battle of the veterans with Radek Stepanek 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to earn his spot opposite Federer in the semis. All the quarter-finals were keenly contested, and the last player to reach the semis was veteran Tommy Haas. Tomas Berdych was the second seeded player to make an exit today after going down to Haas 4-6, 6-3, 5-7.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, the defending champion at Halle raced to a 3-0 lead against the World no. 2 Nadal, who tried to make a fist of it late in the first set but was unable to make the transition to grass as well as he might have liked. At the start of the second set the German saved three break points on his serve to draw level at 2-2. Everyone expected the Spaniard to make his patented comeback and snatch the match away from Kohlschreiber. but the King of Clay had yet to find his feet on the grass. With a crucial break to go up 4-3, the German refused to surrender to Rafa and recorded a sensational straight sets win over the two time Wimbledon champion.

Milos Raonic was thwarted by Swiss legend Roger Federer in a closely-contested match for the third time this season as the 16-time Slam champion came back from a set down to defeat the 21-year-old Canadian 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3) in the Gerry Weber Open quarter-finals in Halle, Germany on Friday.

Though Raonic dished out 25 aces and won 89 per cent of his first serve points in the nearly two-hour match, Federer was also strong on serve and never allowed the world No. 21 to see a break point opportunity. Following the first-set tiebreak, which Raonic won convincingly, Federer immediately turned the match around by securing the only break of the contest in the opening game of the second set.

History has an odd way of settling old scores. Twelve months ago, Novak Djokovic walked into Roland Garros undefeated, invincible and on his way to rewriting the record books. His exceptional unbeaten season was brought to a commanding halt in the semi-finals when he ran into an inspired Roger Federer. Twelve months hence, the duo would stand on opposite sides of Court Philippe Chatrier once again, however, this time it was Novak who was dishing out the beating, powering his way past the legendary Swiss icon in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. The match was not really even as close as the scoreline suggests with an excessive 46 unforced errors flowing from Federer's racquet to make Novak's job all the easier. As his reward, Djokovic earns a first ever date with Rafael Nadal on the final Sunday at the Spaniard's favourite playground, the French Open.

The first set started as a sparring match with the Swiss Maestro and the top seeded Serbian trading warning shots, feeling each out while holding their serves with relative ease till 2-2. The Swiss struck early to break Djokovic’s serve in the 5th game with a heavy backhand and a corner forehand combination, but the former world no.1 couldn’t consolidate the break as Djokovic immediately broke back to make it 3-3. The set continued to be interesting, but one felt that Djokovic had an extra gear on him which he could unleash when needed.·A flurry of errors by the 16 time Grand Slam champion when serving to stay in the set at 4-5, gave Novak the sneaky break at just the right time to nudge ahead in this contest.

Roger Federer passed an unexpectedly stern test by wild card David Goffin in the fourth round today before making his 32^nd straight quarterfinal at a slam. The Swiss maestro was pushed to the limit in the first two sets before finally seizing the initiative and easing to a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 victory on Suzanne Lenglen. The World No. 3 said that the match reminded him of playing Pat Rafter here in ’99 when he as a rookie had similarly stunned his senior opponent in the first set before losing in four. Federer now awaits the finish of the 4^th round match between Berdych and Del Potro which was suspended due to bad light late in the evening here. The Argentine had just won the third set to lead by 2 sets to 1 when play was called off. Also suspended was the classic between World no. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 18^th seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round at the French Open. This match had five-setter written all over it and did not disappoint. Tsonga fired himself to a two set lead 6-4, 7-6(8-6) only to be setback 6-3, 6-3 in the next two sets by his Swiss opponent. The Frenchman was a break up at 4-2 in the 5^th when the officials called play off to a collective groan of disappointment from the crowd who were eager to see their home hero cement his place in the last 8. Samantha Stosur also booked her quarterfinal place after a relatively routine straight set win over Sloane Stephens. While the young American did put up a fair fight, Stosur’s experience carried her through the business end of the sets to advance 7-5, 6-4 into the quarterfinal where she will face Dominika Cibulkova.

Novak Djokovic pulled off the most sensational result at this year's US Open as he ousted Roger Federer in a phenomenal contest 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. For four sets today Novak was winning the tennis battles but losing the tight mental ones. In the 5th he turned that particular corner as in an unbelievable display of guts and gumption he saved two matchpoints at 4-5 before riding that momentum all the way to the finish line to take the exceptional win. Roger Federer was not at his fluent best today but nearly sneaked the win and it took a massive mental effort from Djokovic as he finally found a way past the Swiss Maestro in New York.

Earlier Rafael Nadal was dominant against an overmatched Mikhail Youzhny in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory. The sheer intensity and ferocity of the Nadal groundstroke kept Youzhny firmly on the backfoot never giving him any kind of a foothold to force a contest. To be fair to the Russian he was playing at an extremely high level, he was just up against a man at the height of his prowess with the added impetus of the single minded ambition of winning the one slam that he hasn't as yet.