Roger Federer wins Halle title for ninth time

The 35-year-old Swiss required just 53 minutes to complete a 6-1 6-3 victory which also gave him his fourth ATP title of the year to date.

Federer's victory answered questions about his recent lay-off, which ended in a shock defeat to Tommy Haas on his comeback in Stuttgart this month.

The 20-year-old Zverev had no answer to Federer's inch-perfect execution and was broken three times in a lightning-fast first set.

Zverev did finally set up a break point on the Federer serve in the first game of the second set, but it passed by and Federer raced on to complete victory.

Federer said: “It gives me great confidence. Of course, I'm like on cloud nine right now after the ninth win here in Halle. It's a wonderful feeling to win here again because I'm not sure if I'll ever get a chance to win this again so it's important to enjoy this one.”

He added a fast start had allowed him to relax.

“It's great to get off to a good start in the finals and then remind yourself that you've been playing good tennis all week. You start swinging freely, things start clicking, you realise your opponent is under pressure and you keep pressuring him."

The vanquished Zverev had been impressed by the Swiss and had a warning for his Wimbledon rivals.

“I think Roger is playing really, really well," said the German. "I think going into Wimbledon he's going to be probably the favourite to win the whole thing.

"So credits to him, he played an unbelievable match. Of course I could have played better but he didn't really let me play my best tennis. He messed with the ball a lot. He played very aggressive... I think he deserved to win."

The bookmakers certainly agree with Zverev's assessment with Federer cut to 2/1 by Sky Bet. He is their clear favourite to win a record eighth SW19 title.

Novak Djokovic is just fourth in the market as he heads to Eastbourne in search of form, while second-favourite Andy Murray will play two exhibition matches before the action begins at Wimbledon on July 3.