Roger Federer believes he played his best match of the week in the final of the ATP Halle, despite being defeated by Borna Coric on Sunday.

Federer also lost the world number ranking to Spaniard Rafael Nadal after a 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-2 loss in the Halle final.

“Winning always feels good, losing should hurt and it does a bit,” the 20-time Grand Slam winner said.

“I played what I thought was my best match of the week today.

“I didn’t play badly, but it didn’t go my way, that’s unfortunate.

“I leave with my head held high, I had a good run between Stuttgart (grass title last weekend) and Halle.”

Meanwhile, Croatian Coric also put an end to Federer’s 20-match winning run on grass and was proud of his achievement.

“It’s been an unbelievable week for me,” he said.

“I came here to just get a few matches before Wimbledon.

“I never imagined reaching the final and beating Roger. It’s an honour just to share the court with him, it’s so special, I’ve always looked up to him and I remember watching him play with my parents – now I’m playing him.”