It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder and this has been the case for injury-stricken Borna Coric who is set to make his long awaited return to the Tour.
The former top 20 player haven’t played a match in almost a year due to a serious right shoulder injury which required surgery. Initially the Croat didn’t anticipate being away from action for so long and had hoped to resume his career during the second half of last season. Then in January he travelled to Australia where he contemplated starting his comeback but decided against doing so because he wanted to be “100% ready” for when he returns.
Instead Coric will return to professional tennis this week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The event will be the first he has played on the Tour in 12 months and it is evident that he is eager to start playing again.
“During this time, I also realized how good my life is. I love traveling, I love all the tournaments and I’m really blessed to be playing tennis again. So, it all came down to just the love for the game,” Coric commented on how he managed to maintain his motivation in recent months during an interview with Sportskeeda.
“I love competing as well. That’s what I missed the most in this one year, playing points, playing big matches, playing on the important stages because that’s what we all play for and that’s something I really missed.”
The 25-year-old has been ranked as high as 12th in the world back in 2018. He has won two Tour titles in Halle and Marrakech, as well as reaching the final of five other ATP events. Once dubbed as one of the brightest stars of the men’s game, he finished 2014 as the youngest player in the top 100 and 2015 as the youngest in the top 50. He has also recorded 14 wins over top 10 rivals such as Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Coric remains both confident and hopeful that he will eventually return back to the top of men’s tennis in the coming months. Although he refuses to set himself any targets for one specific reason.
“I haven’t set any goals. I stopped doing that a while ago because it didn’t make sense and it would just put extra pressure on myself, which is really not needed,” he explained.
“The main goal is just to be healthy and to play tennis and just work hard every day as well. I’m sure with that, if I’m able to stay healthy, I’m going to be back where I was before the surgery.”
The first test in Indian Wells will be Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who is currently ranked 45th in the world and reached the quarter-finals of the French Open last year. Forkina has won just three matches in six tournaments played so far this season.
“I have done a great amount of rehab and it’s much, much better than before,” Coric replied when asked about his shoulder. “I feel strong, I feel healthy. I’m not taking any medication for the pain either after a long, long time as well. So that’s very satisfying. So now, I am finally back on the tour without any pain.’
“Obviously, after the surgery, you are going to have some ups and downs. I am now able to play every day, I even played three sets in practice and it felt great. So I can finally say I’m back.”
After Indian Wells, Coric currently plans to play in Miami before heading off to Monte Carlo to begin his clay campaign.
