Croatian rising star and world number 48 Borna Coric came back from one set down to edge last year’s US Open semifinalist and world number 10 Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7 6-2 7-6 (10-8) in two hours and 41 minutes after saving three match points in a hard-fought match after 2 hours and 41 minutes in the first round of the Qatar Open in Doha.
Carreno Busta got the first break of the match in the seventh game of the first set to take a 4-3 lead and served for the set in the 10th game. Coric broke back to draw level to 5-5 but Carreno Busta got another break in the 11th game and held serve to seal the first set for 7-5 after coming back from 0-30 down.
The second set went on serve in the first four games at 2-2 before Coric reeled off four consecutive games to win the second set 6-2. Coric saved two break points in the fifth game and broke twice in the sixth and eighth games.
Carreno Busta earned an early break in the decisive set to open up a 2-0 lead and held his serve until the 10th game to open up a 5-3 lead. Carreno Busta served for the win in the 10th game but Coric broke back to draw level to 5-5. Coric wasted a 40-0 lead in the 11th game to drop serve once again. The Spanish player served for the match once again but he could not close out the match. Coric broke serve to draw level to 6-6 forcing the match to the tie-break. Carreno Busta earned three match points at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 in the tie-break but Coric saved all three chances and converted his first match point to seal the third set 10-8.
Coric won 17 out of 21 points at the net in the third set and fired 44 winners.
The Croatian player, who has started working with Italian coach Riccardo Piatti, will play against Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round.
“It was such a tough match, as Pablo was serving for the match twice in the third set and I was just thinking to myself that I was playing good for the whole match and that was my main focus. I did not know what to expect. It’s the first match of the year. It’s always a little bit tricky, but i can say from the beginning that I was playing very good. In the offseason I was working a lot on the net. I am happy with that stat”, said Coric.
Jan-Lennard Struff edged past number 3 seed and 2015 Doha finalist Tomas Berdych 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4) after two hours and eight minutes. Berdych won more points than Struff, but the German player converted on his second match point to secure his spot in the second round.
“I played very aggressive in the tiebreak and I was very happy after that one. It was a pretty tough match. It was very close I know Tomas, he beat me in the French Open. I knew what to expect in the game”, said Struff.
Three-time Doha semifinalist Gael Monfils beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-3 3-6 6-4. The French player got an early break in the first game on his third opportunity to open up a 3-0 lead. Lorenzi broke back in the seventh game to claw his way back to 3-4. Monfils broke at love in the eighth game as Lorenzi made a double fault after 28 minutes. Lorenzi converted his second break point at deuce in the sixth game after two double faults from Monfils en route to winning the second set 6-3. In the third set Monfils saved two break points in the fifth game. The French player converted his second break point at deuce to open up a 4-2 lead after coming back from 0-30 down in the sixth game. Lorenzi broke back at 30 in the ninth game for 4-5, but Monfils sealed the win with another break at love in the 10th game with two passing shots.
Feliciano Lopez battled past Guillermo Garcia Lopez 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-3) in an all-Spanish match to secure a spot in the second round against qualifier Mirza Basic. Feliciano Lopez converted his second match point to win the decisive tie-break.
Richard Gasquet, who won the Doha tournament in 2013, beat Victor Estrella Burgos 6-0 6-2 setting up a second round match against Greek Next Gen player Stefanos Tsitsipas, who came back from one set down to beat Florian Mayer 4-6 7-5 6-4. Gasquet dropped just 8 points in his service games and won 63% of the points on his return. The French player broke converted five of his eight break points. He won the first set by a bagel after 20 minutes dropping just seven points. Estrella Burgos held his serve in the first games of the second set, but Gasquet broke twice to win the final four games for 6-2 after taking 16 of the last 19 points. Gasquet hit 18 winners to just 6 unforced errors.
German Peter Gojowczyk, who won the Moselle Open ATP 250 in Metz, broke five times to beat last November’s Paris Bercy finalist Filip Krajinovic 6-4 6-1 in 66 minutes.
Italian Next Gen player Matteo Berrettini came back from one set down to beat world number 55 Viktor Troicki 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 scoring the first win on the ATP Tour of his career.
