Federer wins 98th title and will return to No. 1
Roger Federer defeated Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6 (3) to mark his return from three months off with the Stuttgart (Germany) Open title.
The Swiss great, who is assured of reclaiming the No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal on Monday, skipped the entire clay-court season for the second year in a row, but he wrapped up his 18th grass-court title in 1 hour 18 minutes — his 98th title overall and third of the season.
“I fought hard. When you finally manage it, the joy is even greater,” said Federer, who extended his grasscourt winning streak to 16 matches including his titles at Halle and Wimbledon last year.
The 36-year-old will need to defend his title at Halle to maintain his No. 1 spot ahead of Wimbledon.
Johanna Konta failed to shake the umpire’s hand after a bad-tempered end to the Nottingham (England) Open final, with Ashleigh Barty winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. After the first two sets were shared, Konta recovered from 4-1 down in the decider to level at 4-4. The British No. 1 then got angry with the umpire for not overruling a Barty shot that looked long as the top-seeded Australian held for 5-4. Barty won with a backhand pass.
Triple Crown champion Justify returned to his base at Santa Anita. He will resume training this week and be paraded between races this weekend.
Diana Taurasi scored 18 of her 28 points in the first half and the Phoenix Mercury ran their winning streak to eight with a 92-80 victory at Las Vegas.
So Yeon Ryu won the Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich., for her first title of the season and sixth overall, closing with a five-under 67 for a two-stroke victory. U.S. Women’s Open winner Ariya Jutanugarn shot a tournament-record 62 to finish 12th.
Landon Donovan doubled down on his position after being criticized for calling on U.S. fans to support “our other team, Mexico” in a Wells Fargosponsored World Cup message. “Since the USMNT sadly is not participating in the 2018 World Cup, I am supportive of our CONCACAF rivals and would like to see them do well. If others disagree that is their prerogative,” he wrote in a long Twitter post.