Federer upbeat despite shock Halle defeat

Halle, June 25: Roger Federer said he would leave the Gerry Weber Open with his "head high" despite a shock defeat to Borna Coric in the final which ended his 20-match winning run on grass.

Federer has not been at his best in Halle and the 20-time Grand Slam champion suffered a shock defeat to the unseeded Coric, who won 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-2 on Sunday.

Rafael Nadal will return to the top of the rankings following Federer's failure to win the title in Germany for a 10th time.

Federer said he will start the defence of his Wimbledon title in great spirits regardless of his unexpected setback.

"I'm definitely going to leave with my head high, thinking it’s been a good run in Stuttgart and Halle," said the 36-year-old.

"Borna did a good job, he was better in the important moments and extremely consistent. He deserved to win.

"This week I will enjoy a bit of free time. The year has been perfect so far and I hope that will continue at Wimbledon."

The 34-ranked Coric said the prospect of claiming only his second ATP singles title - and first on grass - was not even in his thoughts at the start of the week.

"[I am] just really surprised... I had not even dreamed of this. [During] the whole whole week I was serving really well," said the 21-year-old Croatian.

"I felt confident that I could hold serve and then automatically I can play with less stress."