Roger beaten in Halle final by Borna Coric while Novak loses to Marin Cilic in Queen's finale
Roger Federer after losing a point to Borna Coric in the Halle final
Multiple Grand Slam champions Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic slipped up on the grass in their respective final hurdles yesterday. While Croatian Borna Coric denied Federer the 99th title of his career beating him 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 2-6 in the final of the ATP event in Halle, Marin Cilic was crowned Queen's Club champion in London after he stunned Novak Djokovic with a dramatic fightback in his 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
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Novak Djokovic returns to Marin Cilic in the Queen's final in London. Pics/AFP
Federer also lost the No. 1 spot in ATP rankings to Rafael Nadal, and missed a chance to earn a record 10th title at the German venue. Federer dropped the opening set in a tiebreak but levelled by winning the second.
Coric held his nerve to take victory. The Croatian outsider ranked 34th also ended Federer's 20-match win streak on clay which stretched to June, 2017. Meanwhile, in London, Cilic was on the verge of a third loss in the Queen's final when Djokovic held a match point in the second set. But the World No. 6 survived that threat and then stormed back from 1-4 down to take the second set tie-break.
Inspired by that escape act, Cilic powered through the deciding set to leave Djokovic shell-shocked as he won the Wimbledon warm-up event for the first time since 2012.
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