(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Roger Federer embraced his third reign on the ATP throne between July and November 2012. The Swiss Maestro had to wait over five years to become the world’s best player again, achieving that three times in 2018. Roger’s 310th and final world no .
1 week came in June of that year, and he earned it after beating Nick Kyrgios in Stuttgart
. Two rivals met in the semi-final, and Federer earned a 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 victory in an hour and 51 minutes, advancing into his 148th ATP final and the first in Stuttgart.
Roger never faced a break point. However, he trailed 3-1 in the deciding tie break before erasing the deficit and moving over the top. Federer and Kyrgios had played nine sets, and only the second from this encounter did not reach a tie break, with the Swiss dominating with two return games on his tally.
The Aussie fired 23 aces but could not defend the second serve as efficiently as his rival. Federer lost just eight points on serve in the opening set.
Roger Federer spent his 310th and last week as world no. 1 in June 2018.
However, Kyrgios scored three of those return points when he needed them the most to steal the tie break 7-2 and gain the advantage.
The Aussie saved a break point with a volley winner in game two to avoid an early setback before hitting a double fault in the eighth game to face another. A powerful serve got Nick out of jail, and they both served well in the remaining games to set up a tie break.
Kyrgios opened it with two service winners and grabbed a mini-break in the fourth point when he forced Federer’s error with good backhands. Two more service winners pushed Nick 5-2 up, and a backhand winner gave him another mini-break and four set points.
He converted the first to take the opening set in style, hoping for more of the same in set number two. It was the other way around, though, with Roger serving at 72% and dropping just two points in his games, too much for Nick to handle.
The Aussie served under 50% and lost almost half of the points in his games, getting broken twice. The first break of the match came in game three after back-to-back double faults from Kyrgios, He wasted two game points at 2- 4 to suffer another break after a poor forehand, losing ground entirely in the last 15 minutes.
Three service winners finished the job for Roger in game eight (Nick barely bothered to make an effort on the return), and the match went into a decider, with momentum on Federer’s side. The Swiss played great tennis in the final set, losing only Six points behind his serve and keeping the pressure on the Aussie.
Kyrgios responded nicely and followed the rival’s pace to set up an attractive closure. There were no deuces or break points, and the best way to determine the winner was to hit another tie break. Nick opened it with a mind-blowing forehand return in the Second point before a service winner gave him a 3-1 lead.
Roger pulled a mini-break back in the following point and moved 5-4 up with a mini-break in the ninth point when Nick netted a forehand. It was not over, though, with Roger missing a forehand in the next point. However, a volley winner at 5-5 gave him a match point, and he converted it after a backhand winner to reach the final and claim the ATP throne for the third time that season.