Roger Federer pockets title no. 98

Swiss ace Roger beats Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to win Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart

Roger Federer claimed his 98th ATP title yesterday and displayed his unrivalled superiority on grass with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Milos Raonic in the Stuttgart Cup final. The 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. "I'm just very happy how I played this week. I never felt bad on the court, to be honest. That's a very encouraging feeling. In the last couple of days I've not dropped a serve. I was always on top in the most important moments. Breaking Milos [in the first set] was a good effort. It's been a great week for me," the 20-time Grand Slam champion said.

Federer, 36, will regain the World No. 1 ranking today and is playing next week as top seed in Halle as he continues his comeback after skipping the clay-court season. "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," he added. Federer secured a return to the top ATP ranking for a sixth time with his semi-final victory on Saturday over Australian Nick Kyrgios. He takes the honour back from Rafael Nadal for the second time this season. Federer kept tight control on the match as he claimed his third title of the season after the Australian Open and Rotterdam and now owns 18 grass trophies including eight from Wimbledon. "I think I played very well not having played for a while," Federer added.

"Maybe, I was a bit better on the big points." Federer improved to 21-2 for the season after playing in the 24th grass final of his career. Next week, he will open his Halle bid in the first round against Aljaz Bedene.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!