“I Played My Best Match”- Federer

Roger Federer looked in sublime form coming into the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, winning in Stuttgart along the way. But was upset in the final by Croat, Borna Coric who defeated him 6-7, 6-3, 2-6.

Federer talked about his defeat in the post-match talk. “I actually thought I played maybe my best match of the week today. It just didn’t go my way.“

“So it’s a bit unfortunate there. But I’m definitely going to leave with my head held high, thinking it’s been a good run”, he revealed.

As always, he appreciated his opponent and gave him credit where it was due. “Credit to him [Coric] to play really, really quality tennis at thee very end of that first set and then in the third as well”, Federer said.

“He never really dropped his level and that was it. It was an unfortunate match for me but credit to Borna to really come out and play a tough match today.”

Federer is probably the greatest grass court player there is, with 18 titles overall and this was reflected in his previous appearances in the competition. He has competed 12 times in the Halle finals, winning 9 of them.

Prior to the defeat, he had won his previous 20 matches and it needed a superhuman effort to snap that streak. Borna Coric provided exactly that; he tired Federer out so much so that he won the third set by a 6-2 margin.

But the Swiss legend was unfazed by his defeat and upbeat about the upcoming Wimbledon. “I’m definitely looking forward to some recovery time now next week and just some easy preparation. I really love going to Wimbledon”, he said.

“Being the defending champion always creates pressure. So regardless of whether I won or lost here, I will be one of the favourites there. But all of that stuff doesn’t matter.”

“I just really need to make sure I play great tennis from the get-go and hopefully I can do that there again”, he signed off.