Federer’s grass run ends in loss to Coric

Borna Coric defeated defending champion Roger Federer 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-2 to win the Gerry Weber Open final on Sunday in Halle, Germany. The 21-year-old Croat saved three of the four break points he faced and took his second match point to end Federer’s 20-match winning streak on grass for his second career title.

Coric, who defeated second-seeded Alexander Zverev in the first round, saved two set points in the first set tiebreaker.

“I was impressed with him,” Federer said after only his third loss of the year. “He was always a tick better in the end and he took his chances.”

Federer, who skipped the entire clay-court season for the second year in a row, had been going for his 99th title, one week after taking his 18th grass-court title in Stuttgart.

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

As a result of Federer’s loss, Rafael Nadal will reclaim top spot in the ATP rankings.

Birmingham Classic: Petra Kvitova fought back from a set down to beat Magdalena Rybarikova and retain her grass-court title in Birmingham, England, as the Czech player continued her impressive form ahead of Wimbledon. Kvitova hadn’t dropped a set in Birmingham but was tested by Rybarikova before eventually prevailing 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The two-time Wimbledon champion turned on the style after losing the first set.

“Can I win Wimbledon (this year)? Well, why not?” Kvitova said afterward. “But many things can happen. You can get injured ... It’s a little bit of a different mindset with a Grand Slam, and I will try to set up my mind for this tournament.”

It was Kvitova’s tour-best fifth title this year.

Queen’s Club: Marin Cilic saved a match point on his way to defeating Novak Djokovic 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 as he claimed a second Queen’s Club title in London.

The top-seeded Croat first won the Wimbledon warmup event in 2012, but was the runner-up in 2013 and also lost to Feliciano Lopez in last year’s final.