Federer wins 98th ATP title in Stuttgart ahead of return to No. 1

TIL Desk Sports/ Roger Federer claimed his 98th ATP title on Sunday and re-established his unrivalled superiority on grass with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Milos Raonic in the Stuttgart Cup final. Top-seeded Swiss beat his Canadian opponent for the 11th time in 14 meetings while winning a first Stuttgart title.

Federer, who will be chasing a ninth Wimbledon triumph next month, finally came good on the German grass on his third attempt after losing a semi-final in 2016 to Dominic Thiem and falling in the first round here a year ago to good friend Tommy Haas. The 36-year-old will regain the world number one ranking on Monday and is playing next week as top seed in Halle. “It’s a great comeback for me,” Federer said after completing his 78-minute win.

“I’m so happy to win this tournament in my third attempt. We’ll see if being number one again will probably give me a boost.” Federer made a return to the top ATP ranking for a sixth time through his semi-final victory on Saturday over Australian Nick Kyrgios. He takes the honour back form Rafael Nadal for the second time this season and continues the duel on court between the two modern icons.