Coric denies Federer's 99th

Croatian Borna Coric denied Roger Federer the 99th title of his career on Sunday with a 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-2 defeat in the final of the ATP Halle grass event.

Federer also lost the number one spot in ATP rankings to Rafael Nadal, and missed a chance to earn a record 10th title at the German venue.

The Croatian outsider, ranked 34th, also ended Federer's 20-match win streak on clay for Federer which stretched to June, 2017.

The Swiss will drop to second in the world behind Rafael Nadal. The loss in just over two hours came a week after Federer won his 98th title in Stuttgart.

Federer dropped the opening set, won the second but was unable to fight back after going down 2-4 in the third.

Coric moved out to 5-2 and completed his upset on a second match point a game later as Federer's volley hit the top of the net.