Borna Coric snapped Roger Federer's 20-match winning streak on grass as he outclassed him 7-6(6) 3-6 6-2 in the Halle Open final on Sunday while also bringing an end to the Swiss maestro's recent reign as world number one.

As a result of his shocking defeat at the hands of the Croatian, Federer failed to clinch a 10th title in the German grasscourt tournament ahead of the upcoming Wimbledon where he will defend his crown. The defeat of the Swiss meant that Rafa Nadal will return to the top of the world rankings on Monday.

A gritty Coric, playing in his first grasscourt final, showed great composure and mental toughness to win the opening set after 57 minutes. Even though Federer responded by stepping up his game and putting extra pressure to clinch the second set, the Croatian held his nerves in the third and the deciding set. The 21-year-old then broke Federer in the sixth game of the final set and went on to win the set as well as the match, claiming only his second ATP title.

After his emphatic title triumph, a jubilant Coric, who also beat second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in the first round, said, “Yes absolutely, it was the most unbelievable week of my whole life. I was really playing very, very good for the whole week. I was serving very big also today so I'm just very pleased with the week.”

“Oh, you know, in the tiebreak I was a little bit lucky to be honest. I saved I think two set points and on one of them I was actually really, really lucky and I will remember so I needed some luck today as well and that's tennis at the end of the day,” he added.

Meanwhile, a jolted Federer remarked, “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 high, thinking it's been a good run.”