Borna Coric stuns Roger Federer to win Halle title

This was a seismic upset on several levels.

Borna Coric arrived in Halle having only ever won two matches on grass in his career. Across the net in Sunday’s final was facing world No.1 Roger Federer, who was gunning for an eye-popping 10th title at the German grass-court tournament.

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— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 24, 2018

Coric had lost his two previous meetings with Federer, although he did come close at Indian Wells this year before blowing a third-set lead.

Perhaps that result infused him with extra motivation and belief that he could reverse the result in Halle.

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The 21-year-old recovered from an ugly lapse in the second set to record a 7-6(6) 3-6 6-2 victory and win his first title of the season.

“It was the most unbelievable week of my whole life,” said Coric, who credited an improved serve for the breakthrough.

Federer had to settle for a runner-up finish, missing out on back-to-back grass-court titles on his return from a three-month break and, as a result, losing the No.1 ranking to Rafael Nadal.

“I’m definitely going to leave with my head high, thinking it’s been a good run in Stuttgart and Halle,” the 36-year-old told atpworldtour.com.

Federer could well have won Sunday’s final in straights.

He had struggled all week on the lawns of Halle, and was forced to save match points against Benoit Paire in the second round.

But after a tight first set against Coric in which there were no breaks of serve, Federer stormed to a 6-4 lead in the tiebreak. This was when Coric dug in to come out on top of some thrilling rallies and, somehow, rattle off four straight points to snatch the first set away from the Swiss.

Games continued on serve in the second until Coric produced a forgettable patch of play, littered with forehand errors, which ended when he plopped the most makeable of volleys into the net.

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— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) June 24, 2018

With the break in hand and a 5-3 lead, Federer served out the set to love.

Coric was furious, but to his credit, he resettled quickly in the third set. And this time, it was Federer whose game deserted him.

The world No.1 floated a slice backhand long and was left with no challenges remaining as he handed Coric a 4-2 lead.

Unlike at Indian Wells, Coric held firm.

He held to extend the lead to 5-2, and although Federer moved ahead 40-15 in the following game, the Swiss double-faulted and was then outfoxed by Coric in a rally that ended with Federer missing a volley and stumbling awkwardly as he lunged for it.

Federer swatted an impatient backhand swinging volley into net to hand Coric his first match point, and although the Croat didn’t convert that he was given another opportunity two points later, and duly did.

“He quality tennis at the very end of that first set and then in the third,” added Federer.

“He never really dropped his level and that was it. So, it was an unfortunate match for me but credit to Borna to really come out and play a tough match today.”