Roger Federer said he would leave the Gerry Weber Open with his "head high" despite a shock defeat to Borna Coric in the final which ended his 20-match winning run on grass.
Federer has not been at his best in Halle and the 20-time grand slam champion suffered a shock defeat to the unseeded Coric, who won 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-2 on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal will return to the top of the rankings following Federer's failure to win the title in Germany for a 10th time.
Federer said he will start the defence of his Wimbledon title in great spirits regardless of his unexpected setback.
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"I'm definitely going to leave with my head high, thinking it’s been a good run in Stuttgart and Halle," said the 36-year-old.
"Borna did a good job, he was better in the important moments and extremely consistent. He deserved to win.
"This week I will enjoy a bit of free time. The year has been perfect so far and I hope that will continue at Wimbledon."
2-7 on grass prior to this week. @borna_coric found the winning formula on in Halle. #GerryWeberOpen pic.twitter.com/XPZXJHlDPL
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 24, 2018
The 34-ranked Coric said the prospect of claiming only his second ATP singles title - and first on grass - was not even in his thoughts at the start of the week.
"[I am] just really surprised... I had not even dreamed of this. [During] the whole whole week I was serving really well," said the 21-year-old Croatian.
"I felt confident that I could hold serve and then automatically I can play with less stress."