With this, Federer reciprocated for the surprising retirement against Millman at the US Open last year. In the round of 16 Federer meets Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who took his compatriot Benoit Paire out of the tournament in two sets.

In the first set, neither of the two players had a chance to break. Federer, who served a total of nine aces, was untouchable especially on his first serve, while Millman was often successful over the longer ball change.

In the tie-break, the Australian lacked a bit of nerve strength: Among other things, with a double fault, his first in the match, he helped Federer to a safe 7: 1. Millman got two tie-breaks from New York in 2018.

In the second set, it was Federer who struck the return for the first time: At 3-2 for the 20-time Grand Slam winner, he still missed his first break opportunity, but used a second to win the game.

For his part, Millman had another break in the ninth game, but was determined to be the loser after an hour and 18 minutes.

It was Federer's 64th overall match win in Halle. He has already won the tournament in Westphalia nine times. Federer leads 11-6 against Tsonga in the head-to-head, but the last two duels went to the Australian Open finalists of 2008. In addition, Tsonga won the only match between the two on grass.