Roger Federer returned to world No. 1 ahead of Rafael Nadal after narrowly beating Nick Kyrgios 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to reach the final of the Mercedes Cup.
Federer will meet Milos Raonic in the finale and secured a return to the top of the ATP leaderboard on Monday.
The Swiss had moved just 10 points behind Nadal in the rankings after beating Mischa Zverev and Guido Pella to reach the semi-finals in Stuttgart, where he faced the fourth seed.
Both their previous meetings had gone the distance and this affair was no different as it went down to a final tiebreak.
It was Kyrgios – who will now travel to West London to face Andy Murray at Queen’s – who edged a tight first set.
With a first serve rate up at 79%, the Australian largely kept the Swiss at bay and he raised his level to wrap up the first set in a breaker.
Federer came on strong in the second, but Kyrgios clearly dipped too.
The 22-year-old was only able to land 48% of first serves and was broken twice as the top seed levelled the contest.
A tight third followed but it was Federer who came out on top in the end.
Earlier on Saturday, Raonic booked his spot in the final.
The big-serving Canadian defeated second seed Lucas Pouille 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to maintain his fine serving form.
Raonic has not been broken in 42 service games in Germany, beating Mirza Basic, Tomas Berdych, Marton Fucsovics and Pouille en route. (Metro UK)
•World Number 1 Roger Federer
Source Daily Sports
