TENNIS ATP DUBAI – Croatian rising star Borna Coric upset World Number 3 Andy Murray with a 6-1 6-3 win after one hour and 19 minutes in the first quarter final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to reach the semifinal. Coric will face Roger Federer in the semifinal. The Swiss Maestro will be bidding to win his seventh Dubai title. Thomas Berdych edged past Sergiy Stakhovsky in three sets and will take on Novak Djokovic in the other semifinal. Diego Sampaolo
Lucky loser Borna Coric, who is ranked World Number 84, produced his second shock win against a top-10 player defeating Andy Murray four months after knocking out Rafa Nadal in the quarter final in Basel.
Coric broke serve three times in the first set before getting another break in the second set. He won 89 percent of first serve points. The young Croatian player, the youngest player in the top-100, sealed the win when Murray sent a forehand return wide.
Murray had a bad day at work and committed too many errors, especially with his backhand. He struggled to hold his serve and was broken in the third game of the first set. Coric broke Murray twice more in the first set to cruise to an easy 6-1. Murray faced another break point in the fourth game of the second set but he managed to save it. Coric held his serve easily and did not face any break points. Coric broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. In the ninth game Murray went up 3-5 0-30 but he committed a series of errors, including a smash and dropped the final game of the match.
Coric has become the first teenager to reach the semifinal since Rafa Nadal won the title in 2006 when he was 19 years old. “It’s one of my biggest wins. I was trying to maintain my level, stay in the rallies as long as I can. which I was doing really well. I was running very well”, said Coric.
Murray, who beat Coric in their only previous head-to-head match in the 2013 Davis Cup, did not earn a single break point in the whole match and hit 15 winners but committed 55 unforced errors. After Dubai Murray will drop to World Number 4 in the Ranking.
“He didn’t make many errors. He played solid and moved very well. I made too many mistakes from the beginning of the match right through to the end. He makes good decisions on the court. He is stronger now. His ranking would suggest that he has made some big improvements”, said Murray.
In the semifinal Coric will face six-time Dubai champion Roger Federer cruised to a very easy 6-1 in the first set in just 20 minutes before Richard Gasquet withdrew from the quarter final. Federer broke serve early before taking two more breaks to seal a one-sided first set. Federer won for the 14th time in his 16 head-to-head matches against Gasquet, including the past six clashes. Federer and Coric will meet for the first time in their careers.
“I think I played well. I served well. The test was so short that it’s tough to judge on a 20-minute match. I was hitting the ball well again like yesterday. I felt able to play aggressive and do what I was hoping to do. Coric seems to really play up when it matters against the best players. Today it was a great victory. I didn’t see any of the match, so I can’t tell about Murray’s level. Regardless of the level, to beat Murray 6-1 6-3, it’s a great score”, said Federer.
Tomas Berdych edged past Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3 4-6 6-2. Berdych broke serve early in the first set and opened up a 3-0 lead. Stakhovsky broke back to draw level to 3-3. Berdych broke again in the eighth game to seal the first set with 6-3. The second set went on serve until the 8th game when Berdych faced three break points. Stakhovsky saved them with his serve. The Ukrainian player put pressure on Berdych and got the crucial break in the ninth game for 5-4 before holding serve to force the match to the decider.
Berdych got the decisive break in the fifth game of the third set and took control of the match. Stakhovsky was broken again on his next serve. Berdych served out for the match and held his serve to clinch the win in the third set with 6-2.
Berdych will face four-time Dubai champion Novak Djokovic who cruised to a 6-1 6-1 win against Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan. Djokovic fought off all three break point chances he faced and won 85 percent of his first serve points. Djokovic leads 17-2 in his previous 19 head-to-head matches against Berdych.
“I made a double break and I felt like I was in control of the match. I didn’t allow him to get into the groove”, said Djokovic.
