Milos Raonic beat defending champion Lucas Pouille 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Saturday to reach the final of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.
Roger Federer defeated Nick Kyrgios 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (5) to reclaim the No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal and will face the seventh-seeded Raonic on Sunday at 4 a.m. ET.
Bidding for his 18th grass-court title, Federer was pushed all the way by the fourth-seeded Kyrgios, who had 23 aces.
Kyrgios forced a mini-break in the deciding tiebreak, but Federer remained steady and sent a short backhand past the Australian on his first match point to clinch the win.
Raonic, on the other hand, had 19 aces and saved the only break point he faced.
It’s great to be back, healthy and in the final in Stuttgart. I look forward to competing for the trophy tomorrow 💪 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamMilos?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamMilos</a> <a href="https://t.co/oP0QNRLSth">pic.twitter.com/oP0QNRLSth</a>
—@milosraonicIt was the Thornhill, Ont., native's fourth straight-sets victory of the week as he reached his first final since the 2017 Istanbul Open.
Raonic won his last title at the 2016 Brisbane International.
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