Federer loses No 1 spot to Nadal with shock Halle defeat as Cilic wins at Queen’s
Borna Coric ended Roger Federer’s 20-match winning streak on grass, beating him 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 in the Halle Open final yesterday with a victory that also cost the Swiss player his world No 1 spot.
Rafael Nadal will go back to the top of the ATP rankings when the new list is published today after Federer’s failure to retain his Halle title meant he dropped 200 points.
That puts him 50 behind Nadal, who will now take the No 1 ranking into Wimbledon, which starts next Monday, the third grand slam of the season.
World No 34 Coric, playing in his first grasscourt final, showed impressive mental toughness and determination to fend off two set points before clinching the opening set after 57 minutes.
Federer, who had been bidding for a 10th Halle title, responded by applying further pressure on Coric’s serve in the second set before converting a break point in the eighth game to force a decider.
The 21-year-old then broke Federer in the sixth game of the final set when the Swiss sliced a backhand long, before claiming only his second ATP title.
It was Federer’s first defeat on grass since a second-round loss to German Tommy Haas at Stuttgart in June last year.
He also remains two matches away from matching Jimmy Connors’ all-time record of 174 victories on the surface as he missed out on achieving his 99th career title.
“Many congratulations Borna for your first grass title,” Federer said in the post-match presentation.
“You played a wonderful match and deserved to win at the end.”
Coric is projected to rise to a new career-high 21st in the world rankings next week after collecting wins over the tournament’s top two seeds, Federer and Alexander Zverev.
Meanwhile, Marin Cilic, the man beaten by Federer in last year’s Wimbledon final, demonstrated he will be a serious contender to go one better this time around as he came from behind to defeat Novak Djokovic in the Queen’s final in London.
Djokovic, the 12-time major winner, had looked on target to win his first title in 12 months when he took the first set, but world No 6 Cilic recovered to triumph 5-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, said: “I had a great time here this week. I have waited six years to get my hands on this trophy! It is an amazing crowd and I will come back every single year.
“Am I playing my best tennis at the moment? I hope so. I want to continue this great form at Wimbledon.”