Borna Coric, the teenage Croatian, defeated Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil 6-3 4-6 6-1 to book his place in the quarter finals of the Estoril Open.
Today was billed as #NextGen day in Estoril with top billing given to Coric, Kyle Edmund and Nick Kyrgios. #NextGen is the ATP’s umbrella marketing term to cover the 14 players aged 21 the next group of players to challenge for major titles on the ATP tour. This designation disguises many differences between the 14 players, although with the exception of Kyrgios, ranked 20th, none has yet established themselves as a major threat at the top of the game.
In some ways, the balance between promise and imperfection captured in young rising players, was emblematic of Coric’s performance today. For a set and a half, there was little indication of the threat that the 101st ranked Brazilian might pose. Coric broke in the first game of the match and a second time for a 4-1 lead. Despite being broken serving for the set at 5-2, the Croatian teenager broken for a third time to take the first set 6-3.
However, during the second set something changed: Coric appeared to back off both from his forehand and from the baseline. At the same time, to the delight of the crowd, who while ultimately desiring a Coric win was happy to indulge in more tennis, Dutra Silva found form and power off both wings. He broke Coric at 4-4, with a haymaker of a down-the-line forehand, and served out the set to level at 6-4.
As anticipated by their respective rankings, Coric’s average level was likely to be higher than that of Dutra Silva. And so it proved. As Dutra Silva’s level dropped a fraction and forehand errors crept into his game, so Coric rediscovered his own forehand. Once Coric broke for 3-1, the match was effectively over.
Post-match, Coric had this to say about the end of the second set: “I was sitting on the bench and thinking what was going wrong in the second set. I was feeling like everything I played, I just couldn’t hurt him…I was angry with myself on the bench and that was my key: I need to step in and play more aggressively, not only in the shots but also in the court position because automatically my shots are going to be more aggressive.”
Coric goes on to face the winner of Nick Kyrgios, the second seed, and Inigo Cervantes, last year’s end-of year Challenger tournament winner. They play later today, as does Kyle Edmund in the final match of the day against Benoit Paire.