Borna Ćorić

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Borna Ćorić
Coric RG19 (60) (48199357447).jpg
Ćorić at the 2019 French Open
Country (sports) Croatia
ResidenceDubai, United Arab Emirates
Born (1996-11-14) 14 November 1996 (age 24)[1]
Zagreb, Croatia
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro2013
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand),born left-handed
CoachMartin Štěpánek (2019-)
Prize money$8,509,168
Singles
Career record168–143 (54.0%)
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 12 (5 November 2018)
Current rankingNo. 24 (15 March 2021)[2]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open4R (2019)
French Open3R (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)
Wimbledon2R (2015)
US OpenQF (2020)
Doubles
Career record4–15 (21.1%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 413 (7 November 2016)
Team competitions
Davis CupW (2018)
Last updated on: as of 15 March 2021.

Borna Ćorić (Croatian pronunciation: [bôːrna tɕǒːritɕ];[3][4][5] born 14 November 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player.[6] On 5 November 2018, he reached his best singles ranking of world No. 12. He is currently the No. 1 Croatian singles tennis player.

Junior career[]

In 2013, Ćorić reached the semifinals of both the Australian and French Open junior events, before going on to win the boys' singles event at the US Open against Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in three sets. As a result, Ćorić moved to No. 1 in the junior rankings.[7][8] That year, he also began playing on the ITF Futures circuit, winning five singles titles.

Professional career[]

2013: First best-of-5 sets match[]

Ćorić made his debut at the 2013 Davis Cup, after he was selected for Croatia's World Group Play-off tie against Great Britain, with his first best-of-5 sets match coming against world number 3, Andy Murray. Despite showing promise, matching the Scot's level in the first 6 games, and breaking his serve in the third set, he would ultimately go on to lose in straight sets.

2014: ATP Star of Tomorrow[]

In April, Ćorić defeated No. 21 Jerzy Janowicz on the first day of the Davis Cup tie between Croatia and Poland.

In July, in the first round of the clay court event in Umag where he was playing with a wildcard, Ćorić scored another notable win over a top-50 player, beating seventh seed, No. 46 Édouard Roger-Vasselin in straight sets. He beat qualifier Horacio Zeballos in the second round to reach his first ATP quarterfinal. In the quarterfinal, he faced second seed Fabio Fognini and lost in three sets. Ćorić entered the top 200 for the first time on 28 July after his run in Umag, at No. 194.

In August, Ćorić qualified for the main draw of the 2014 US Open, his first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam. He upset 29th seed Lukáš Rosol in the first round in straight sets, before falling to Víctor Estrella Burgos in the second round.

Ćorić receiving the 2014 ATP Star of Tomorrow Award at the O2 in London

On 21 September, Ćorić won his first ATP Challenger title in İzmir, and he entered the top 150 for the first time at the age of 17 and 10 months, at No. 140.

In October, he was given a wildcard for the Swiss Indoors, where he achieved his first victory over a top-20 player, No. 13 Ernests Gulbis, in straight sets. In the quarterfinals he went on to record the biggest victory of his young career, defeating world number 3, Rafael Nadal. His run to the semifinals launched him into the world's top 100 for the first time (at No. 93), making him the youngest player to do so since Nadal in 2003.[9] In the semifinal, he lost to future top ten player David Goffin in three sets.

In November, Ćorić won the ATP Star of Tomorrow, awarded by the ATP Awards, for being the youngest player in the top 100.[10]

2015: Top 50 player[]

At the Australian Open, Ćorić received his first direct entry into the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. He faced 29th seed Jérémy Chardy in the first round and lost in four sets.

In February, Ćorić made his second ATP 500 semifinal of his career in Dubai, defeating world number 3, Andy Murray, in straight sets in the quarterfinals, his second win over a top 5 player; this was despite Ćorić losing in the qualifying tournament, and requiring entrance into the main draw as a Lucky Loser.[11] In the semifinals, he lost to world number 2, Roger Federer, in straight sets. In March, Ćorić made his ATP Masters 1000 main draw debut in Indian Wells, after winning two qualifying matches, reaching the second round.

At the 2015 French Open, Ćorić reached the third round in a Grand Slam for the first time after defeating Sam Querrey and the 18th seed Tommy Robredo, before falling to Jack Sock.

Ćorić achieved his first grass court win by defeating Donald Young in the first round in Halle before losing to Tomas Berdych in the second round. At the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, he defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round, then lost to 25th seed Andreas Seppi in the second in five sets.

In August, Ćorić climbed to a then career-high of No. 33 in the ATP rankings. After defeating one of his junior rivals, and future top 3 player Alexander Zverev, he lost to Stan Wawrinka in three close sets in the second round in Cincinnati. The 2015 Winston-Salem Open saw the first time that Ćorić attended an ATP tournament as a seeded player, where he reached the quarterfinals and lost to eventual champion Kevin Anderson. At the 2015 US Open, he lost in the first round to 8th seed Rafael Nadal in four sets.

In September, after winning another ATP Challenger title, Ćorić achieved two singles wins for Croatia in the 2015 Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against Brazil. He ended his 2015 season at No. 44.

Ćorić at Wimbledon in 2016

2016: First ATP finals and knee surgery[]

In January, he was named in Forbes' "30 Under 30" sports list for 2016.[12] That same month, he reached his first ATP final at Chennai, but was defeated by Stan Wawrinka in straight sets. In March, Ćorić played for Croatia in a Davis Cup tie against Belgium. He lost in a five-setter to David Goffin, but won the deciding rubber by defeating Kimmer Coppejans.

In April, Ćorić reached his second ATP final in Marrakesh, losing to Federico Delbonis in straight sets. In July, Ćorić repeated his feat from earlier in the year by winning the decisive rubber in Croatia's Davis Cup quarterfinal tie against the United States, defeating Jack Sock to send Croatia to their first Davis Cup semifinal since 2009.

At the 2016 Cincinnati Masters, Ćorić scored his third career victory over a top-10 player when he defeated former number one player, Rafael Nadal, in straight sets. It was his second career win over the Spaniard, both of which he achieved while still a teenager. Ćorić reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal at the Cincinnati Masters, but was forced to retire when facing the eventual champion, Marin Čilić, in the quarterfinal match due to a knee injury, marking the first time that Ćorić retired during a match in his career.

In September, Ćorić lost to Richard Gasquet in the Davis Cup semifinal between France and Croatia, and then announced he would undergo season-ending knee surgery.[13]

2017: First ATP title[]

In 2017, Ćorić won his first ATP title in Marrakesh, coming back from a set down to defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets after saving five championship points.

On 12 May 2017, at the Madrid Open, Ćorić defeated the number one, Andy Murray, in straight sets. This was his first victory over a world number one player.

In the second round of the US Open, Ćorić would record the biggest win of his career at the Grand Slam level, defeating the 4th seed, Alexander Zverev. Ćorić subsequently lost to eventual finalist, Kevin Anderson, in the third round.

Ćorić qualified for the Next Generation ATP Finals after finishing in the top seven in the Race to Milan. He entered as the fourth seed and won his group through the round robin stage, defeating Karen Khachanov, Daniil Medvedev and Jared Donaldson. He was defeated by Andrey Rublev in the semifinals.

2018: Davis Cup champion and Top 15[]

In February, Ćorić helped Croatia to advance to the Davis Cup quarterfinals, defeating Vasek Pospisil and rising star Denis Shapovalov. In March, Ćorić played his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal in Indian Wells losing to Roger Federer in three tight sets, despite leading by a set and a break. Ćorić followed up this result with another impressive performance in Miami, eventually bowing out to Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.

In Halle, he upset world number 3, Alexander Zverev, and world number 1, Federer, (who held a 20-match winning streak on grass), to win his second career title and first on grass. Ćorić's serve was broken only twice during the entire tournament. In July, he broke into the top 20 of the ATP rankings for the first time.[14]

In September, Ćorić reached the last 16 of a Major tournament for the first time in his career at the 2018 US Open.[15] Later that month, Croatia hosted the United States for the Davis Cup semifinals. The teams split the first four matches, including a straight sets victory for Ćorić over Steve Johnson. In the deciding rubber, Ćorić came back from two sets to one down to beat Frances Tiafoe and send Croatia into their second Davis Cup final in three years.[16]

Heading into October, Ćorić had failed to reach the quarterfinals in his previous seven tournaments, dating back to his victory in Halle. He broke this drought at the Shanghai Masters by reaching the final, beating defending champion and top seed Federer in the semifinals, before succumbing to Novak Djokovic in the final. His effort in reaching his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final propelled him to a career high rank of No. 13 in the ATP rankings.

In the Davis Cup final in November, Ćorić helped Croatia win the title against France with a victory over Jérémy Chardy.[17]

2019: Fourth round at the Australian Open, back injury[]

In 2019, Ćorić won his first ever match at the Australian Open against Steve Darcis. He then defeated Márton Fucsovics and Filip Krajinović before losing to 28th seed Lucas Pouille in the fourth round. This marked the second consecutive time, and the second time overall that Ćorić reached the last 16 of a Major tournament.

After an early exit in Marseille, Ćorić battled through 3 consecutive third set tie breakers against Jiří Veselý, Tomáš Berdych, and Nikoloz Basilashvili to reach the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. There, his run of success against Roger Federer ended, as he fell victim to the Swiss in straight sets during Federer's historic 100th title run. Ćorić was unable to match his previous year's success at the Indian Wells Masters event, losing his opening match to compatriot Ivo Karlović. In Miami, Ćorić reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year before losing to Canadian qualifier Félix Auger-Aliassime.

Ćorić started his 2019 clay court season at Monte-Carlo, losing to eventual champion Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals. Next, Ćorić suffered early exits in Budapest and Madrid. In Rome, Ćorić faced off against Federer for the 5th time in 14 months. The pair split the opening two sets, and were the deadlocked in the decider. Federer won the match in a tiebreak after Ćorić was unable to convert upon two match point opportunities. Ćorić's clay court season ended with another hard-fought defeat at the French Open to German Jan-Lennard Struff.

Ćorić entered the grass season as Croatian number one for the first time in his career after overtaking Marin Čilić in the ATP rankings. In 's-Hertogenbosch, Ćorić recovered to win after a double break deficit in the third set against Cristian Garín to reach his second semifinal of the year. In the semis, he lost to Adrian Mannarino in a third set tiebreak. As defending champion in Halle, Ćorić overcame João Sousa in a grueling three hour match before being forced to retire down a set against Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the quarterfinals due to a back injury. Ćorić subsequently withdrew from Wimbledon.[18] At the US Open, Ćorić once again withdrew before his second round match citing a lower back strain.[19]

Ćorić returned to competitive play at the St. Petersburg Open in September, reaching his first final of the year. En route to the final, Ćorić recovered from a set deficit in all three of his matches against Fucsovics, Casper Ruud, and Sousa. In the final, he was defeated by US Open finalist Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. He then made the quarterfinals at the 2019 Zhuhai Championships, losing to eventual champion Alex De Minaur. However Ćorić's season ended poorly, suffering 1st round defeats in his last four tournaments including Shanghai where he'd been a finalist in 2018. Ćorić finished the year ranked No. 28.

He represented Croatia at the 2019 Davis Cup Finals in November, where Croatia was drawn in Group B alongside Russia and Spain. Croatia lost their opening tie 0-3 against Russia, with Ćorić losing the second rubber in three sets against Karen Khachanov. He then pulled out of the tie against Spain citing exhaustion. Spain went on to win the tie 3-0, thus eliminating Croatia from the competition.[20]

2020: Continued struggles and US Open quarter finals[]

At the 2020 Australian Open, Ćorić was seeded 25th and was defeated in the first round by Sam Querrey. Ćorić reached the semifinals of the 2020 Rio Open before losing to Cristian Garín in straight sets.

At the 2020 Cincinnati Open, Ćorić lost in the second round to David Goffin. Ćorić had much improved form at the 2020 US Open where he beat Pablo Andujar and Juan Ignacio Londero in the first two rounds before saving six match points to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets and then Jordan Thompson in straight sets to advance to the quarter finals where he lost to Alexander Zverev in four sets.

Playing style and coaching[]

Ćorić is a defensive baseliner. He is very solid and consistent from primarily the backhand wing, but has shown some improvement from the forehand wing in 2018, and this improvement was praised in his defeats of Roger Federer in both the 2018 Halle final and Shanghai Masters semi-final. However, he continues to struggle hitting forehand groundstrokes in defensive positions or on the run. He has great coordination and footwork, thus allowing him to move well laterally on the court. His style of play lends itself to having long rallies and wearing down his opponent from the baseline. Due to the fact that he's born left-handed but plays on his right hand, the strengths in his game are in his movement and his two-handed backhand. His forehand, with his long takeback and tendency to break down under the stress of an opponent’s offence, has been cited as an area of possible focus in the future.

In addition, he also possesses a strong and precise serve, which enables him to win a lot of easy points. That in turn, helps to preserve his energy for return games and outlast opponents in long rallies, in order to break their serve. He is punishing to players who drop the ball short, allowing him to take the ball on the rise and turn defense into offence effectively, earning him comparison to Novak Djokovic. He has been lauded for his impressive mental fortitude in tough situations.

His past coaches have been Željko Krajan (2014-2015), Thomas Johansson (2015), Miles Maclagan (2016), Ivica Ančić (2016-2017), Riccardo Piatti (2017-2019),[21][22][23][24] and Antonio Veić (2019).[25] He is currently coached by Martin Štěpánek.[26][27]

Personal life[]

In June 2020, Ćorić tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Adria Tour.[28]

Career statistics[]

Main article: Borna Ćorić career statistics

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline[]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Current through the 2021 Australian Open.

Tournament 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 SR W–L Win %
Australian Open A 1R 1R 1R 1R 4R 1R 2R 0 / 7 4–7 36%
French Open A 3R 3R 2R 3R 3R 1R A 0 / 6 9–6 60%
Wimbledon Q1 2R 1R 1R 1R A NH A 0 / 4 1–4 20%
US Open 2R 1R 1R 3R 4R 2R QF 0 / 7 11–7 61%
Win–Loss 1–1 3–4 2–4 3–4 5–4 6–3 4–3 1–1 0 / 24 25–24 51%

Awards[]

  • ATP Star of Tomorrow (2014)

References[]

  1. ^ "Borna Coric". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  2. ^ ATP Rankings
  3. ^ "bòriti se". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 2018-03-17. Bȏrna
  4. ^ "ćȍr". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2018-03-17. Ćórić
  5. ^ "The pronunciation by Borna Ćorić himself". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  6. ^ "ATP Profile". atpworldtour.com. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  7. ^ "Croatians Coric, Konjuh win junior US Open titles". The Washington Post. September 8, 2013. Archived from the original on September 8, 2013.
  8. ^ "Hrvati poharali US Open! Konjuh i Ćorić pobjednici juniorskih turnira!" (in Croatian). Index. September 8, 2013.
  9. ^ Herman, Martyn (1 November 2014). "Teenager Coric is a man on a mission". Reuters. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Federer wins sportsmanship award". ESPN. Associated Press. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  11. ^ "Nerveless Coric Takes Out Murray In Dubai". ATP. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  12. ^ "Coric Named In Forbes' 30 Under 30 Sports List". atpworldtour.com. January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  13. ^ http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2016/09/borna-coric-croatia-davis-cup-final-knee-surgery/61376/
  14. ^ "In Halle, Ćorić dethrones Federer, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, for biggest title". tennis.com. June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  15. ^ "US Open 2018: Juan Martin del Potro Ends Borna Ćorić's Best Slam Run". CROATIAWEEK. September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  16. ^ "CORIC ENDS U.S. COMEBACK TO SEND CROATIA TO DAVIS CUP FINALS". Tennis Magazine. September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  17. ^ "Perseverance pays off for Krajan's Croatia". daviscup.com. November 26, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  18. ^ "Borna Ćorić forced to pull out of Wimbledon". Croatia Week. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  19. ^ "Borna Coric Withdraws From The US Open". Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  20. ^ "Davis Cup Madrid: Croatia Knocked Out After Loss to Spain". Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  21. ^ "Piatti Tennis Center on Instagram: "Thank you @bornacoric for the time we spent together! It's been a pleasure working with you and with the rest of your team. We wish you a…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  22. ^ "Borna Coric splits with coach Piatti".
  23. ^ "Coric on split with coach Piatti-Maria Sharapova one of main reasons".
  24. ^ "Coric opens on split with coach".
  25. ^ "antonio-veic". April 13, 2019.
  26. ^ "BORNA ĆORIĆ NAŠAO MAJSTORA KOJI BI GA TREBAO ODVESTI U SAM VRH Velika nada hrvatskog tenisa ima novog trenera! - Sportske Novosti". sportske.jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  27. ^ Carayol, Tumaini (2019-12-17). "Completely missed this news: Borna Coric is now being coached by Martin Stepanek, former coach of Berdych and Dodig". @tumcarayol. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  28. ^ "Novak Djokovic has tested positive for coronavirus". espn.com. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

External links[]

Awards
Preceded by
Czech Republic Jiří Veselý 		ATP Star of Tomorrow
2014 		Succeeded by
Germany Alexander Zverev
Retrieved from ""