Roger Federer announced the return of the grasscourt season on Sunday by raising the MercedesCup title in Stuttgart and returning to the No. 1 ATP ranking, displacing recent French Open champion Rafael Nadal.

It came on the heels of an 11-week vacation as the 36-year-old Swiss skipped the claycourt season to heal injuries and prepare for his assault on the grass.

In the final Federer beat No. 7 seed and 2016 Wimbledon …

Richard Gasquet and Aleksandra Krunic were the unlikely champions on grass Sunday at the Libeman Open in ‘s-Hergotenbosch, Netherlands.

The 31-year-old Gasquet won his first title since 2016, defeating countryman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6(5). Gasquet was appearing in his second final of the year and improved to 15-15 in career finals.

“It [has been] two years that I didn’t win,” Gasquet said. “It is my 15th, so it is unusual. It is …

Top seed Ashleigh Barty ended a three-final losing streak on Sunday at the WTA stop in Nottingham, Great Britain, winning her second career title by defeating No. 4 seed Johanna Konta 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 for the Nature Valley Open title.

“I feel like I’ve been playing well all week,” said Barty, who won her first career title last year at Kuala Lumpur. “It’s been building and building and getting better and …

Their third meeting proved much like their first two, a thriller right down to the very last point. Roger Federer had to overcome a mini-break down in the final set tiebreaker to deny Nick Kyrgios 6-7(2), 6-2, 7-6(5) to reach the Stuttgart finals.

In three matches, the two have played a final breaker in each. And the win sent Federer back to No. 1 in the rankings.

“I’m very happy, very relieved. …

Two players who have had time off of late will meet in a dream semifinal Saturday in Stuttgart. Playing his first event since March, Roger Federer cruised in the semifinals today with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Argentine lefty Guido Pella.

“I thought I was in good control today. I thought I served well. I didn’t give Guido many chances to get into my service games, except maybe the last couple,” …

It might look like this week’s Mercedes Cup is the “Roger Federer Open” with no other players ranked in the Top 15, but a minefield awaits the Swiss who is coming off an extended break after skipping the claycourt season.

By reaching the final in Stuttgart this week Federer can re-take the No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal.

“I think that’s a bit of extra motivation,” Federer said of the No. 1 …

CoCo Vandeweghe goes for a third grasscourt title in the Netherlands while Adrian Mannarino heads a challenged men’s field at the newly-sponsored Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Gilles Muller defends his title from last year in the men’s field, which includes a resurgent Bernard Tomic who made it through the qualifying on his best surface.

LIBEMA OPEN
‘S-HERGOTENBOSCH, Netherlands; surface: grass

Women’s Seeds: CoCo Vandeweghe, Elise Mertens, Kiki Bertens, Anett Kontaveit, Zhang Shuai, Alison Van …

Another year another French Open title for Rafael Nadal. He first won it back in 2005 and here were are in 2018 and Rafa’s still chugging along, still collecting trophies and still breaking the spirits and King of Clay wannabees. Today, Dominic Thiem became the seventh different player Nadal has vanquished in the French Open, and he did so in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours, 45 minutes.

“Coming …

Simona Halep has held the No. 1 ranking for some time, but on Saturday in Paris her top status received an irrefutable stamp of approval when she lifted her first Grand Slam trophy at the French Open.

Halep had to work for her first Grand Slam title in her fourth career Slam final, coming back from a set down to defeat American Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

“I was dreaming for this …

Can anyone stop Rafael Nadal? It’s up to Dominic Thiem and twice in the last year the Austrian has been up to the challenge, beating Nadal at the Rome Masters last year and then just a month ago in Madrid.

But now he’ll try to do on Rafa’s favorite court and do it in his first career French Open final and in the biggest match of his career.

“I know how to …

So after two months and two weeks of clay court tennis, the last two standing for the biggest prize are probably the two guys we thought we’d see here in this spot, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem.

I had Alexander Zverev at the start, but the German was once again left shaking his head after another disappointing Grand Slam performance. But Thiem in the final is no slouch.

The Austrian has played …

On a very one-sided semifinal Friday at the French Open, both favorites rolled to victory setting up Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem title match on Sunday.

Under comfortable blue skies, Thiem opened the afternoon up against the surprise semifinalist Marco Cecchinato who had stunned Novak Djokovic on Tuesday. In this first tour meeting, Thiem jumped out early in the first two sets, and while the Italian fought back each time, the …

Sloane Stephens beat fellow American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday in a repeat of the US Open final. Now she will try and win a second Grand Slam title in the last three Slams at the French Open.

In the final Stephens will meet world No. 1 Simona Halep, who is still looking for her first Grand Slam title after defeating Garbine Muguruza 6-1, 6-4 in her semifinal.

“I’m really happy …

So down to four. We have Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Juan Martin Del Potro and then Marco Cecchinato! Marco who? That’s right. Marco Cecchinato. An impossible pick to reach this spot, but there he is, a guy who had never won a Grand Slam match before.

A guy who was lucky to not have been busted for match-fixing some years ago. A guy who cruised past Pablo Carreno Busta, overwhelmed …

World No. 1 Simona Halep and former No. 1 and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza lined-up a semifinal at Roland Garros after distinctly different wins on Wednesday.

Halep needed to come back from a set down to defeat former No. 1 and No. 12 seed Angie Kerber 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-2 to reach her third Roland Garros semifinal. In the third set the two exchanged breaks before Halep won four of the …