Borna Coric: "It was my childhood dream to win the Davis Cup" - UBITENNIS
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Borna Coric: “It was my childhood dream to win the Davis Cup”

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Borna Coric enjoyed the best season of his career ending the year ranked world number 12. The Croatian player won the Gerry Weber Open in Halle on grass, reached the semifinal at Indian Wells and his first Masters 1000 final in Shanghai and the Davis Cup title against France in Lille.

Coric beat Kevin Anderson in the tie-break of the third set in the third round before losing to Roger Federer in three sets in the semifinal. Coric reflected on his successful season in a very interesting interview to Italian sports channel Sky Sport.

“Indian Wells and Miami were the highlights. I went there without knowing what to expect. I had never played beyond the third round in Masters 1000 tournaments, but I played very good. I reached the semifinals. I was set up over Roger Federer and so that was a very experience. It was very painful but that’s tennis”,said Coric.

Coric beat number 3 seed Alexander Zverev and number 1 seed Federer en route to winning his second ATP Tour title in Halle.

“Winning the Gerry Weber Open over Roger Federer in the final was also special for me. I will never forget it”.

He also reached the quarter final in Dubai, in Miami (losing to Alexander Zverev) and Vienna. In Shanghai he beat number 4 seed Juan Martin Del Potro and number 2 seed Federer en route to reaching the first Masters 1000 final before losing to Novak Djokovic. The young Croatian player reached his first Grand Slam fourth round at the US Open before losing to eventual finalist Juan Martin Del Potro.

Coric fulfilled his dream to win the Davis Cup final in Lille, where he helped his team clinch the second Trophy in history with a victory over Jeremy Chardy.

 “It was very special for us to win the Davis Cup. It was my childhood dream. Although I played away from home, I was nervous and I spoke a lot with my coach Riccardo Piatti who was there with me. I was so tense. In the end I played a very good tennis and also bringing the trophy back home, al the celebrartions was something unforgettable. It was one of the nicest experiences in my whole ife. It’s also nice that we were the last Davis Cup winners through the old format”.

“The last part of the season was also special with my first Masters 1000 final in Shanghai. I also have a very funny story because I came there and I wanted to retire from the first round, because my neck was blocked and I could not play. Even one hour before the match I still wanted to retire but I just wanted to retire, but I just went into the court with no expectations. I started playing very good and and I probably played the best tennis in my life”.

 Coric believes that Roger Federer has a good chance to win a 21st Grand Slam title next year.

“I faced him a couple of times this year. Roger takes a break during the clay season and it gives the chance to rest. Seeing him at the age of 36 was fantastic. He played five sets and it was something special. I definitely see him in a race to win a Grand Slam. Wimbledon is obviously one ofhis favourite tournaments, so he may win there. Let’s see waht happens there. Alexander Zverev also showed us in the last season that he can play a very good tennis. Winning the ATP Finals is going to give him a huge confidence. That positive mindset for the Grand Slam which he needs”, said Coric.

Coric has been training for one year at the Tennis Academy under the guidance of Italian coach Riccardo Piatti. The 60-year-old Italian coach, who also guided Ivan Ljubicic and worked with Novak Djokovic in 2004 and 2005, thinks that Djokovic’s win over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon was the key for the Serbian player.

“After the French Open Nove was angry because he wanted to have a different run. The amazing thing was his post Frenc Open interview. He did not want to play on grass. There I understood that he did not want to keep like this. Either he would have put things in order coming back to the old Nole, or he would either retire, which I did not think of. When he beat Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon, he understood he was the real Nole again, which is a problem for all the others. Looking ahead to the 2019 season a younger player will get closer to winning a Grand Slam. I hope it’s Borna. Our goal as a team is that Borna plays five, ten important matches a year. For us an important match is a Indian Wells semifinal or a Miami final. We work on such goals. Or the Davis Cup title, where he was playing to lose something. It allows him to grow, so I wish he has these chances”, said Riccardo Piatti.

 

 

 

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Jannik Sinner reaches his fourth semifinal of the year in Miami

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This year’s Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner converted four of his eleven break points in his 6-4 6-2 win over Tomas Machac in 91 minutes to reach his fourth semifinal of the season at the Miami Open. 

Sinner has claimed a tour-leading 20th match win this season to reach the Miami Open semifinal for the third time. The world number 3 finished runner-up to Hubert Hurkacz in 2021 and Danil Medvedev in 2023 in his finals in Miami. 

Sinner started the match with an immediate break in the first game to take a 1-0 lead. Machac, who beat Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray on his way to the quarter final in Miami, broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Sinner earned his second break in an eight-minute seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The Italian star held on his next two service games to close out on his first set point. 

Sinner earned two break points on each of Machac’s first three service games. He broke twice in the third and fifth games to open up a 5-1 lead and served out the win on his second match point. Sinner dropped just three points on serve in the second set. 

Sinner will face the winner of the quarter final match between Danil Medvedev and Nicolas Jarry. 

“I did not exactly know what to expect today. The first games I was looking a little bit what kind of tactics could work or not. Today I played especially in the important moments of the match. I am really happy to play again in the semifinals here. Machac has an incredible talent to play this sport. He is super fast also physically . He is in great shape. I feel good. I am just happy to compete. We practise very hard to be in these positions and I am really happy I can play once again in the semifinals at this special tournament. I made my first Masters 1000 final here. I am really happy to be back in the semifinals ”, said Sinner. 

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Danielle Collins beats Caroline Garcia to reach the second semifinal of her career in Miami

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Danielle Collins beat Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-2 in 80 minutes to reach her second semifinal at the Miami Open. Collins became the first qualifier to reach the semifinal in the history of this tournament. 

Collins achieved her third win against a seeded player in five matches over the past seven days. 

Collins dropped just 11 points in nine service games against Garcia and hit 22 winners to Garcia’s 12. 

Collins earned a break in the eighth game and held serve to seal the first set 6-3. The US player broke serve in the third game of the second set and never looked back to close out the match in 1 hout and 19 minutes. 

Collins has extended her record to 4-0 in her head-to-head matches against Garcia and has not lost a set to her French opponent. 

Collins set up a semifinal match against the winner of Wednesday night’s match between Jessica Pegula and Elena Alexandrova, who beat world number one player Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.  

Collins won two WTA titles in Palermo and San José in 2021 but she has not reached a WTA Tour level final since losing to Ashleigh Barty in Melbourne in 2022. 

“I think Caroline Garcia comes out here and fights her butt off. She hits some really strong shots. I don’t think the set scores are a reflection of how close the match really is”, said Collins. 

Garcia beat Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff to reach the quarter finals in Miami for the first time in her career. The French player was troubled by an injury to her right shoulder and received treatment early in the second set. 

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Alexander Zverev beats Karen Khachanov to reach the quarter final for the fourth time in his career in Miami

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Alexander Zverev beat Karen Khachanov 6-1 6-4 without facing any break points in a re-match of the Olympic final in Tokyo 2021 to reach back-to-back quarter finals after advancing to the last eight at Indian Wells. Zverev is aiming to win his first Masters 1000 title since Cincinnati in 2021. 

Zverev dropped just nine points on serve in the whole match and fired nine aces. The German player converted three of his four break points. 

Zverev broke twice in the fourth and sixth games to win the first set 6-1. The German player earned another break in the third game. He held on his next service games and sealed the win on his first match point. Zverev leads 4-2 in his six head-to-head matches against Khachanov. The German player reached the quarter final for the fourth time in his career in Miami and the last eight in a Masters 1000 tournament for the 27th time in his career. 

Zverev set up a quarter final match against Hundary’s Fabian Maroszan, who upset Alex De Minaur 6-4 1-6 6-1. The first set went on serve until the 10th game when Maroszan earned a break to win the first set 6-4. De Minaur broke three times to take a bagel win in the second set forcing the match to the decider. Maroszan broke twice in the fourth and sixth games and served out the win on his third match point. 

Maroszan reached his second Masters 1000 quarter final after advancing to the last eight in Shanghai in 2023. Maroszan has a record of four wins to just 1 defeat against top 10 players and 14 wins to just 3 defeats at Masters 1000 tournaments. De Minaur was looking to become the first player to reach 20 wins this season. 

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