Last weekend saw the focus on Rafael Nadal as he won the French Open. Roger Federer missed that tournament but he began his preparations for Wimbledon in style this weekend. He beat Milos Raonic to win the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. That’s not just his 98th Tour title but it takes him back to World Number One.
Federer has already had a great year winning the Australian Open in January and the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in the Netherlands. He then lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the Indian Wells final and suffered a shock loss to Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Miami Open in March. As was the case in 2017, Federer decided not to play at the French Open as he prepares for his bid to win a record ninth Wimbledon title and as you will read, that could be an historic victory.
Back to the Top of the Rankings
The Swiss legend nearly lost in the last sixteen in Stuttgart as he had to come from a set down to defeat Mischa Zverev who is ranked 54. Federer fought back and went on to beat Guido Pella in the quarter final. His difficult route to the final continued as he again had to come from a set down to beat controversial Australian Nick Kyrgios.
That three-set win took him into the final but the victory was a lot more important than that. Beating the Australian took Federer back to the World Number One spot in the ATP World Rankings unseating Rafael Nadal.
Federer didn’t drop a set as he beat Milos Raonic 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in the final. There was only one break of serve in the match, that took place in the third game of the first set with Federer breaking Raonic with a classic backhand winner.
The win is the first time Federer has won the Mercedes Cup and certainly makes up for last year when he lost to Tommy Haas in his first match. Speaking after his win, Federer commented “I played very well throughout the tournament, it is a great comeback for me. I am so happy to have won. I was hoping to play a couple matches here but I have played four and won them all. The last few have been very good.”
Closing in on 100 Wins
This latest win is the third of the year in only five tournaments played and his 98th tour victory. He now heads for the grass court tournament in Halle, Germany which he has already won nine times in the past. Victory there would be win number 99 and set the scene perfectly for a record ninth Wimbledon title that would also be that magical 100th Tour victory.
The Halle tournament starts next week with Wimbledon beginning on July 2 where he could well be up against Britain’s Andy Murray. The Scottish player begins his comeback after hip surgery at Queen’s this week. He faces an almighty task to get back to his former level and dethrone the legendary Roger Federer next month as the Swiss legend bids to join Jimmy Connors as the only man to win 100 tour titles.
