“I was just believing that I can win the next match,” Borna Coric contemplates on his miraculous Cincinnati Win


“I was just believing that I can win the next match,” Borna Coric contemplates on his miraculous Cincinnati Win

Borna Coric with his 2022 Cincinnati Masters trophy

Borna Coric didn’t expect to win the 2022 Cincinnati Masters title when he arrived to compete a week ago. The Croatian tennis star defeated world number 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets (7-6, 6-2) to claim the Western and Southern Open title – his first Masters 1000 trophy. Tsitsipas was not the only top seeded player Coric defeated in Cincinnati.

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Coric enjoyed wins over top players like Rafael Nadal, Robert Bautista Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Cameron Norrie. The former world number 12 did not hold back while talking about his struggles with injury. Coric had to leave the tour for a while after his right shoulder surgery in May 2021. Before coming to Cincinnati, Coric suffered a first round loss against fellow Croatian Marin Cilic in Montreal.

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It’s just unbelievable feeling : Borna Coric

Borna Coric
Borna Coric

Borna Coric was not expecting to reach this far in the tournament. He was No. 152 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and did not have a big win percentage this season. He believed in taking everything one match at a time and it worked. Only Rafael Nadal was able to take a set off Coric during the whole tournament.

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After his win over Tsitsipas, a delighted Coric reflected on his huge win saying, “I have no words, to be honest. It’s just unbelievable feeling. Like I said many times, I [am] just going to enjoy this. I thought I could play well. I was training hard, and I knew I could play good tennis, but that I could play this level tennis, I was just not aware. I’m just super happy.

“I believe always in myself. But again, [it was unlikely] to win the tournament when last week I was really playing poorly,” he added. He further said, “I didn’t believe I’m going to win the tournament.” After his stunning win over Nadal followed by a win over Bautista-Agut, Coric did not relax. He knew he had to be consistent and focused.

He said, “I knew I needed to stay calm. I needed to do my recovery and to stay fresh, basically, because that’s most important. And I think that’s what I did. But I think I kind of learned that the hard way, because I was doing those mistakes when I was younger where I would beat some good players, and then I would just go in the holiday mode.”

With this win, Coric’s rise in the ATP rankings is looking good. He will climb 123 places and hold the number 29 ranking.

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