Borna Coric says his recent fall down the rankings has inspired him to work harder after reaching his first Masters 1000 final in almost four years at the Western and Southern Open.
Coric, who is currently 152nd in the world, knocked out Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4, on Saturday evening in what was his fourth win over a top 20 player within a week. Coric won 79% of his first service points and hit a total of 22 winners against 15 unforced errors. It is the first time he has reached a final of any sort since the St Petersburg Open in October 2020.
“I feel great. Also a little bit tired, to be honest, but that’s normal. I haven’t played many finals in the last three years, so I’m just very happy to be here,” Coric said during his press conference.
“I am super happy to be here and to play a tournament and to compete against top guys.”
The Cincinnati success comes five months after Coric began his return to competitive tennis following a year-long absence due to shoulder surgery. It wasn’t until last month that he won back-to-back matches for the first time this season at an ATP Tour event.
However, the 25-year-old knew he was heading in the right direction. A former world No.12 at his best, Coric admits his drop down the rankings served as a wake-up call for him.
“I think once you are in the top 20 or top 30 or somewhere where you want to be you can get a little bit sloppy and maybe get away with it,” he explains.
“But once you fall down the rankings, I knew I need to work probably three times harder than I used to work, and that’s what I did.’
“For the last six months, I was really focused. I kept my head down even when I was losing and when I was not playing very good tennis.’
“So I think that’s the key and you need to be lucky a little bit, as well. I believe that you create your own luck. I think that’s what I did this week.”
Standing in the way of Coric winning the biggest title of his career will be Stefanos Tsitsipas who knocked out world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in his semi-final match. The world No.7 battled on court for almost two-and-a-half hours before prevailing 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-3. In what was a roller-coaster encounter, Tsitsipas lost five games in a row midway through the match but held his nerve to prevail in the decider. Hitting 32 winners against 27 unforced errors.
“I knew I had to sign up for a difficult task, third set, it wasn’t going to be easy,” Tsitsipas told atptour.com post-match. “He made it very physical and really demanding for me. I just took advantage of some of his missed first serves. I think I had a couple of opportunities where it seemed to be going towards on my side.”
It is the sixth time Tsitsipas has reached the final of a Masters 1000 tournament and the third this year. He won Monte Carlo before settling for runner-up in Rome earlier this season.
Coric last played Tsitsipas at the 2020 US Open where he prevailed in a five-set thriller. The Greek is hoping he will be able to avenge that defeat but admits it will not be easy.
“I’m prepared for it. I know it’s not an easy task playing against him. He’s coming back from an injury, he’s playing great tennis, and he’s going to work very hard for it.” He said.
Regardless of the outcome, Coric is guaranteed to surge back into the world’s top 100 when the rankings are updated on Monday.
