ATP: New number one! Federer back on the Thorn

Roger Federer reached the final of the ATP grass court tournament in Stuttgart on Saturday evening. In the semi-final the Swiss won against Nick Kyrgios 6:7(2), 6:2, 7:6(5). This makes Federer the world’s number one again next Monday.

“I am very relieved. That was the expected difficult match against Nick,” Federer said after the match. “I’ve stopped counting how many tiebreaks I played him.”

The two duels so far went over the full distance, all six rounds were decided in the tiebreak. In Sunday’s final, the 20-time Grand Slam winner will now face Milos Raonic, who defeated Tommy Haas Lucas Pouille’s protégé in two sets.

The 2016 Wimbledon finalist has not lost a set or service game in the tournament so far. Raonic had also slipped down to 35th place in the world rankings due to several injury problems.

“It would mean a lot to me to win this tournament,” said Federer, who has never made the final in Stuttgart. “I look forward to playing Milos.”

Federer, who voluntarily paused for two and a half months during the entire clay court season, is displacing his Spanish rival Nadal from the top of the world rankings for the third time this year.

For the Australian Open Champion, the win over Kyrgios was on its way to his planned ninth title at Wimbledon of the 15th success on grass in a row. For Kyrgios, it was the first tournament since the beginning of April in Houston/Texas after problems with the elbow.