Coric stuns Federer to win Halle

Borna Coric ended Roger Federer's 20-match winning streak on grass, beating him 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-2 in the Halle Open final on Sunday while also bringing to a halt the Swiss maestro's reign as world number one.

Federer was denied a 10th title in the German grasscourt tournament as Croatian Coric handed the 36-year-old his first setback on an otherwise serene road towards defending his Wimbledon title.

The defeat meant that Rafael Nadal will return to the top of the world rankings on Monday.

“I actually thought I played maybe my best match of the week today. It just didn’t go my way. So, it’s a bit unfortunate there. But I’m definitely going to leave with my head high, thinking it’s been a good run in Stuttgart and Halle,” said Federer, who fell to 9-3 in Halle finals.

“Credit to him to play really, really quality tennis at the very end of that first set and then in the third as well, he never really dropped his level and that was it. It was an unfortunate match for me but credit to Borna to really come out and play a tough match today.”

With both players holding serve comfortably throughout the first set, Federer was the first to earn a break point opportunity at 5-5. The Swiss earned himself an great chance at a cross-court forehand passing shot to serve for the set, but, crucially, the ball clipped the tape before Coric eventually held serve.

Once again, Federer manufactured chances in the tie-break, earning two set points at 6/4, before Coric responded emphatically with forehand aggression to reel off four straight points.

“I think the key maybe in hindsight was trying to win that first-set tie-break. I had more chances throughout the set, I had chances at 6/4,” said Federer.

As was the case in the first set, Federer made the first move in the second set. The nine-time champion took advantage of a series of errors from Coric to earn break points at 4-3 and broke through in fortunate fashion as Coric dumped a forehand volley into the net. Federer then held serve to love to force a decider.

The final set started competitively, with Coric and Federer holding their opening two service games. But, from that point, Coric took charge. The Croatian stepped up his aggression on both groundstrokes to secure a 4-2 lead before breaking once more, two games later, to clinch the biggest title of his career.

But Federer is proud of his grass-court season so far, including his title run at last week's Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. The Swiss has 98 tour-level titles - 18 on grass - and will next compete at Wimbledon, which begins 2 July. The eight-time champion owns a 91-11 record at SW19.

“I’m definitely looking forward to some recovery time now next week and just some easy preparation. I'm really going to love going to Wimbledon. Being the defending champion always creates pressure. So regardless of whether I won or lost here I will be one of the favourites there. But all of that stuff doesn’t matter; I just really need to make sure I play great tennis from the get-go and hopefully I can do that there again.”

The Swiss great remains two match wins away from matching Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 174 victories on grass.

Date: 24 June 2018, Source: ATP and Reuters

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Federer beats Kudla to set up Coric final in Halle

Defending champion Roger Federer extended his unbeaten run on grass to 20 matches by defeating American qualifier Denis Kudla 7-6 (1), 7-5 on Saturday, and set up a Halle Open final with young Croatian Borna Coric.

Federer's 20-match grass win streak is the second longest of his career. The 36-year-old won 65 consecutive encounters on the surface from 2003 to 2008. The Swiss improves to 63-6 at Halle.

"I'm very happy," said Federer. "I’ve never played back-to-back finals on grass like this in events before Wimbledon. So, this is a first for me. I’m very happy having won Stuttgart and, now, making another final here in Halle is great. I would have taken that any day a month ago."

The pair exchanged early breaks in overcast conditions before top-seeded Federer stamped his authority by winning the tiebreak 7-1, ending Kudla's 10-set winning streak this week. Playing his eighth match in less than two weeks, Federer seemed clearly fatigued but showed great mental strength to save five break points in the second set.

A lapse of concentration from Kudla in the 11th game allowed Federer to grab the only break point on offer before the Swiss served out the match in just under an hour and a half.

"Denis has played an excellent tournament and made it difficult for me," Federer said. "So I am of course very glad to have made it."

Nine-time Halle champion Federer has reached his 12th final on German grass, and will next face 34th ranked Coric, who will make his first final appearance of the season.

The 21-year-old Coric, who defeated second seed Alexander Zverev earlier this week, advanced after playing just five games of his semi-final against Robert Bautista Agut.

The Spaniard was forced to retire after an unfortunate slip, with Coric serving at 2-3.

Federer, who must win a record-extending 10th title in Halle to remain at the top of the world rankings, holds a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over Coric.

Coric will be playing his first grass final and stands 1-3 in ATP finals on all surfaces. His lone win came in 2017 in Casablanca against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Date: 23 June 2018, Source: Reuters and ATP

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Federer battles hard for Halle semi-final spot

World number one Roger Federer was tested once again in Halle but did enough to overpower Australian Matthew Ebden 7-6 (2), 7-5 in the quarter-finals on Friday. With his world number one ranking on the line, the Swiss is sparing no effort to make sure he lifts a tenth title at the event on Sunday.

The victory was the 19th in a row on grass for the 36-year-old Federer. Failure to win the grasscourt title would send rival Rafael Nadal back to the top spot going into Wimbledon which starts on July 2.

"I felt I had to push myself today," Federer said. "It didn't come as easy as it did in other matches.

"But you can't allow that to be frustrating. I can take away a lot of positives.

"Now that I'm in the semi-finals I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - you either lose in the semis or have two more matches, max. That allows me to find extra energy.

"I'm happy I played well when I had to," Federer said. "I'm happy I got through somehow."

The first set on Friday was decided in a tiebreaker while the Swiss had to twice recover from a break down in the second to secure a tight victory in 88 minutes.

Federer set up match point with a flicked backhand pass and then sealed his semi-final place as Ebden returned long.

Ebden did not make it easy for Federer, staying with the Swiss into the first-set tiebreaker.

The Aussie double-faulted to hand over four set points but one was enough as Federer hit a backhand service return winner.

In the second set, Ebden broke Federer twice and served for the set at 5-4 only for the Swiss to break back for a second time.

After Federer held to love he then broke Ebden again to finish the match by winning four straight games.

"It's normal once you get broke on grass to get ready for a possible third set," Federer said. "That's the logical consequence of being broken.

"At the same time, you need to show a reaction, try to break back. I was able to do that today."

Federer will next take on qualifier Denis Kudla, who scored the best grass victory of his career as he beat Japan's Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 7-5.

The American, ranked 109, had never been past a quarter-final on the lawns - which he achieved at Queen's club, London five years ago.

Kudla improved to 17-14 on grass over his career as he put out Sugita, the No. 52 who stunned third seed and Roland Garros finalist Dominic Thiem in the second round.

Date: 22 June 2018, Source: AFP and Reuters

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Federer saves two match points in Halle win over Paire

Defending champion Roger Federer saved two match points in a final set tiebreak before defeating Benoit Paire 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7) in a thrilling contest to reach the Halle Open quarter-finals on Thursday.

Federer, who must win a record-extending 10th title in Halle to remain at the top of the world rankings, dropped a set for the first time in six meetings against the Frenchman as the pair fought out a gripping two-hour duel.

"You need to take the right decisions along the way," Federer said of the dramatic tiebreaker. "You need some luck also, I guess.

"It was a tough match and I played at good level actually. He served well and was hard to break. It was always going to be tight. At the end it was extremey close, I was fortunate to have made it today."

The 36-year-old Swiss extended his winning run on grass to 18 matches as he continues a serene build-up to his title defense at Wimbledon next month.

Federer held his nerve to avoid another third set tie-break loss this year. In March, he lost to Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (2) in the BNP Paribas Open final and at the next ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, he fell to Thanasi Kokkinakis 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the Miami Open second round.

Paire began strongly, giving little pace to Federer and hit a high proportion of his first serves into court. The Frenchman earned the first break point opportunity of the match when Federer was caught off guard by a lob at 3-3. The World No. 48 showed signs of frustration one game later, when he committed successive groundstroke errors to gift Federer a 5-3 advantage.

Regaining his composure after the 27-minute opener, Paire saved two break points in the opening game of the second set and the used his backhand to move Federer around the court and take a 4-0 lead in 19 minutes. Paire came within two points of leading 5-0, but later at 30/40 Federer struck a backhand crosscourt winner to get one service break back. Paire held his nerve to win his first set against Federer and finished with an ace.

While Federer served first in the decider, he continued to shake his head as Paire didn’t give him any rhythm. Paire was left frustrated on Federer's serve at 3-3, when the wrong shot choice cost him at 30/30 and he later saved two match points from 15/40 at 5-6, with big first serves.

Federer led 3/1 in the deciding-set tie-break, before Paire fought back for a 5/3 advantage and held match point chances at  6/5 and 7/6. Federer saved the first match point by hitting a tricky topspin forehand from his shoelaces, inside the service box, to land on the baseline. The Swiss struck an aggressive backhand service return deep down the middle of the court on Paire's second match point, which the Frenchman ultimately lost with an unforced forehand error.

He will next play Australia’s Matthew Ebden, who beat 2011 champion Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany earlier in the day.

Federer has a 61-6 match record in Halle, including trophies in 2003-06, 2008, 2013-15 and 2017. With three pieces of silverware to his name in 2018 - Australian Open (d. Cilic), ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament (d. Dimitrov) and last week’s Mercedes Cup (d. Raonic) - the 36-year-old Swiss is 23-2 on the year.

Date: 21 June 2018, Source: ATP and Reuters

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Federer breezes past Bedene at Halle

Defending champion Roger Federer raced through his opening match at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, taking only 71 minutes to beat Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4. The top seed and No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings stretched his grass-court win streak to 17, dating back to last year's titles in Halle and Wimbledon and including his 98^th title run last week at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.

Federer fought through an eight-minute game to break Bedene and immediately grab control for a 2-0 lead. He served flawlessly, winning 84 per cent (41/49) of his service points for the match, including a hold to love for the opening set.

The Swiss right-hander then broke in the ninth game of the second set before another routine service hold clinched his place in the second round.

"I got out of the box well, I felt good right away," Federer said. "This is an easier court to play than last week in Stuttgart.

"The ball bounces up higher into my strike zone. I was connecting well on returns and I could read his serve. I played a solid first set once I figured out how to break him. In the second I was able to hold all of my serves.

"For a first round and without much play in this court, It was fine, I'm very happy."

The 36-year-old is going for his 10^th Halle title (2003-06, 2008, 2013-15, 2017). Half of Federer's 18 grass-court crowns have come in the German city. He needs to repeat as Halle champion to stay No. 1, or else Rafael Nadal will reclaim the top spot in the ATP Rankings.

Federer improved to 60-6 in Halle. The Swiss great is just five match wins away from matching Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 174 victories on grass. Federer's winning percentage is better, with 169 wins and 24 loses compared to Connors' record of 174-34.

Federer will next try to improve to 6-0 in his ATP Head to Head series with Frenchman Benoit Paire, who beat Steve Johnson of the U.S. 7-5, 7-6 (5).

Date: 19 June 2018, Source: ATP, AP and AFP

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