Borna Coric Shocks Roger Federer in Gerry Weber Open Final - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Borna Coric beat Roger Federer 7-6 (6) 3-6 6-2 to win the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany

Marin Cilic beat Novak Djokovic 5-7 7-6 (4) 6-3 to win the Fever-Tree Championships in London, Great Britain

Petra Kvitova beat Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6 6-1 6-2 to win the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham, Great Britain

Tatjana Maria beat Anastasija Sevastova 6-4 7-5 to win the Mallorca Open in Mallorca, Spain

Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Oscar Otte 6-4 6-4 to win the Fuzion 100 Ilkley Trophy men’s singles in Ilkley, Great Britain

Tereza Smitkova beat Dayana Yastremska 7-6 (2) 3-6 7-6 (4) to win the Ilkley Trophy women’s singles in Ilkley, Great Britain

SAYING

“(I am) just really surprised. … I had not even dreamed of this.” – Borna Coric, after beating Roger Federer to win the Gerry Webber Open.

“I actually thought I played maybe my best match of the week today. It just didn’t go my way.” – Roger Federer, after losing the Gerry Weber Open final to Borna Coric.

“It was an extremely tough match. No breaks for me until that last (return) game. I definitely feel relieved that I won it and what a great week.” – Marin Cilic, following his win over Novak Djokovic in the Fever-Tree Championships final.

“It’s a tough loss for me today, obviously. But I have to see it from a positive side. I haven’t played a final at any event in almost a year, so this felt great.” – Novak Djokovic, after losing to Marin Cilic in London.

“Can I win Wimbledon? Well, why not?” – Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, after winning a Wimbledon warm-up event in Birmingham, Great Britain.

“I was impressed with him. He was always a tick better in the end and he took his chances.” – Roger Federer, complimenting Borna Coric.

“I think Roger’s motivational level is just slightly better and higher on Grand Slams, and you can see that throughout so many years that he’s been showing the best tennis at Grand Slam levels.” – Marin Cilic, about Roger Federer.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a contender, you know, for a (Wimbledon) trophy or anything like that. I have to keep my expectations very low considering my results in the last 12 months.” – Novak Djokovic.

“No, it’s not fair. That’s what we like about it.” – Venus Williams, when asked if it was fair to the other players for her and her sister, Serena, to play doubles together.

SHOCKER IN HALLE

Borna Coric’s surprising triumph in Halle, Germany, snapped Roger Federer’s 20-match winning streak on grass, ended the Swiss star’s reign as number one in the world and denied Federer a 10^th Gerry Webber Open title. “In the tiebreak I think I was just a little bit lucky, to be honest,” Coric said. “I saved two set points, and one of them I was actually just really, really lucky. I needed some luck today – but that’s tennis.” It was the first loss for the 36-year-old Federer since he returned to tour after skipping the clay-court season and winning last week at Stuttgart, Germany. The defeat also meant Rafael Nadal will return to the top of the world rankings. Coric was playing in his first grass-court final and won just his second career ATP World Tour title. “I think I was serving the best I have in my whole life,” Coric said. “I was feeling very confident and hitting the spots I wanted to hit, which isn’t very usual for me. Hopefully I can continue to serve like that now.” After the two traded sets, the 21-year-old broke Federer in the sixth game of the decider when the Swiss sliced a backhand long. It was all Coric, who also beat second-seeded Alexander Zverev in the opening round, needed. He finished with 11 aces. It was the Croatian’s first win over Federer in three career meetings.

STOPS NOVAK

Top-seeded Marin Cilic staved off a match point before downing Novak Djokovic in three sets and winning at Queen’s Club for the second time. Djokovic took the opening set and had a match point in the second-set tiebreak before the 29-year-old Croatian won in two hours, 56 minutes, the longest final in the tournament’s history. “It was a special win for me because last year I had match point and didn’t convert it,” Cilic said. “It was a tough match. No breaks for me until the final set.” Djokovic won the hour-long first set, then losing just one point on his first serve in the second set, appeared ready to wrap up the title in the ninth game. But Cilic hit a huge serve out wide to save match point, then rallied from 1-4 down in the tiebreak, winning the last six points, to level the match. Two years younger than Djokovic, Cilic grabbed the only break in the final set to win his first title of the year. “Overall, I had a great time here this week,” Cilic said. “I have waited six years to get my hands on this trophy.” The last time Djokovic was in the final at Queen’s Club, he lost to Rafael Nadal.

When Novak Djokovic beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club, it was the Serb’s 800^th match win. It also was his first ATP World Tour 500 series event since 2010. Djokovic is only the 10^th man in the Open Era, since 1968, to reach 800 match wins. Jimmy Connors leads with 1,256 match victories. “I will play as long as I feel like playing,” Djokovic said. “Hopefully I can have many more years because I truly enjoy playing this sport.”

STELLAR SEASON CONTINUES

It’s easy to figure out why Petra Kvitova is so happy these days. “I couldn’t imagine to have five titles this time of the year, so I’m pretty happy already,” the Czech left-hander said. She got her fifth when she successfully defending her title at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham. “I didn’t really expect to win here,” she said. “I just played match by match, being very happy to be on the grass and the tennis court.” Grass fits her big game perfectly, but Magdalena Rybarikova made Kvitova work for the big trophy. The Czech finished with 34 winners to just 18 for Rybarikova. Kvitova also won 70 percent of the points on Rybarikova’s second serve. “I think today was a great final to kind of fight,” said Kvitova, who raced out to a 5-1 lead in the final set. “We played over two hours, so it was a great final to watch, I think, I hope.”

STUNNER

Tatjana Maria made her first trip to a WTA singles final pay off. The German rallied from 0-4 down in the second set to sweep past third-seeded Anastasija Sevastova in straight sets and became a champion for the first time. “It was amazing, the support from the first day,” Maria said in the presentation ceremony. “All the German fans, also everybody, it was really amazing, and I felt it a lot, also today for me.” The title victory was only her second win over a player ranked in the Top 20. She broke Sevastova four times and won 61 percent of the points off of the Latvian’s second serve. “It’s a great event, it’s a really nice place,” Maria said. “You really enjoy every day, so I’m really happy I could win it here.”

SEEDING AT US OPEN

The US Open is changing the way it seeds the players, taking into consideration mothers who returning after giving birth. It doesn’t hurt that Serena Williams will be playing the US Open for the first time since becoming a mother. “It’s the right thing to do for these mothers that are coming back,” said Katrina Adams, president and chairwoman of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) does not protect player’s rankings when they take time off because of pregnancy as they do when the player is injured. Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam tournament singles titles, has seen her ranking slide from number one in the world to 183^rd since she took off to give birth to daughter Alexis Olympia. The four Grand Slam tournaments are able to change seedings, although they usually stick to the rankings.

SHE’S THE CAPTAIN

Amélie Mauresmo is the new captain of France’s Davis Cup team, replacing Yannick Noah. Mauresmo becomes the first woman to take the role in France and just the sixth woman to coach a Davis Cup team. The French tennis federation also announced that Julien Benneteau will captain the French Fed Cup team after his retirement later this year. He also replaces Noah. A former world number one and winner of Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006, Mauresmo coached the Fed Cup team for three years, winning six of nine ties and leading the team to the final in 2016. She became the first woman to coach a leading male when she was hired by Andy Murray in 2014. She has also coached Michael Llodra, Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli. As a player, Mauresmo won the Fed Cup in 2003 and a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She retired as a player in 2009.

SUGGESTIVE GESTURES

Nick Kyrgios was fined almost USD $17,500 after BBC cameras caught the Australian making suggestive gestures with his water bottle during his semifinal loss to Marin Cilic at Queen’s Club. Tournament supervisor Lars Graff said the fine was for “inappropriate behavior.”

SICK CALL

Tomas Berdych, who was a finalist at Wimbledon in 2010, will miss this year’s tournament because of a back injury. “I am disappointed to inform you that I was forced to pull out of the Wimbledon championship,” Berdych wrote on Twitter. “I have been struggling with back pain for a couple of months now and I have tried every possible treatment and medical solution in order to be able to keep on competing. Unfortunately, things have not got better and my attempts to be ready and healthy for the grass season were not successful.” Berdych lost in 2010 to Rafael Nadal.

SKIPPING EASTBOURNE

Spain’s Feliciano Lopez has withdrawn from this week’s Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, Great Britain. He won consecutive titles at Eastbourne in 2013 and 2014. The 36-year-old Lopez reached the quarterfinals at Stuttgart and the quarterfinals at Queen’s Club before deciding to rest this week to prepare for Wimbledon.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Birmingham: Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic beat Elise Mertens and Demi Schuurs 4-6 6-3 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Halle: Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo beat Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev 7-6 (1) 6-4

Ilkley (men): Austin Krajicek and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan beat Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies 6-3 6-3

Ilkley (women): Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez beat Natela Dzalamidze and Galina Voskoboeva 4-6 6-3 10-1 (match tiebreak)

London: Henri Kontinen and John Peers beat Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-4 6-3

Mallorca: Andreja Klepac and Maria José Martinez Sanchez beat Lucie Safarova and Barbora Sfefkova 6-1 3-6 10-3 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Eastbourne: www.lta.org.uk/major-events/nature-valley-international/

Antalya: www.antalyaopen.com/

Southsea: www.lta.org.uk

Wimbledon: www.wimbledon.com/index.html