Gerry Weber Open, Germany

Men’s Final: [1] Roger Federer (SUI) vs. [21] Borna Coric (CRO)

It was supposed to be a no brainer, after all Federer had won their two previous encounters and this was on grass in Federer’s backyard. However, Coric had other plans and he came ready to battle for his second title.

It was a tightly contested first set that fittingly ended in a tiebreak. Shockingly, Federer had the opportunity to win the set but failed to serve it out and Coric was quite happy to take advantage of his opportunity to win the first set.

No one expected Federer to concede defeat easily and he fought back in the second set. A missed volley gave the only break to Federer and he served it out without any problems. Now the momentum was on his side and of course no one expected him to squander the opportunity; however, once again, Coric proved many wrong and he elevated his game in the third set.

He outplayed Federer on grass, which was quite surprising to see. The Croat was not affected by the fact that he was playing one of the greatest players on grass, nor did it matter that his opponent was the number one ranked ATP World Tour player. He kept his focus despite dropping the second set and dug in for the battle.

Perhaps Federer was playing with an injury because he was not as lithe on his feet as he usually is on grass and he appeared to be struggling to get to the ball in the third set. Yet, one cannot take away the determined effort of the Croat. He had a plan and stuck with it and his forehand won him quite a few valuable points.

Coric broke Federer twice in the final set to win 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2 and this title is perhaps even sweeter than his first.

SOURCE OF IMAGES: serveandrally