Milan, Italy
Borna Coric was one of the two players in the eight-man field who managed to win all three of their round-robin matches. That record came crashing down in Friday’s Next Gen ATP semi-finals. 20-year old Andrey Rublev advanced to the Next Gen ATP Finals dispatching Coric 4-1, 4-3, 4-1 in just 62 minutes.
In the second shortest match of the entire tournament, the 37th ranked player in the world took control early breaking in the second game and winning the opening set in just 14 minutes.
In the second set the sold out crowd began urging Coric on which seemed to give the Croatian some confidence. He started playing much better sending the set to a tiebreak. However at 6-6, the World No 48 had an opportunity to take the lead but he sent a routine forehand wide. Rublev then closed out the set on the following point with a powerful forehand of his own which Coric sent long.
A dejected Coric wilted away in the third and frustration boiled over during the second game. Coric, who turns 21 in three days, broke his racquet nearly in half and was quickly down 3-0. Shortly thereafter, the match was done and Rublev was victorious.
Coming into the day, Coric had been leading the tournament in first serve percentage and service games won. But it was Rublev who bettered him in both categories. Although he didn’t show any signs of injury, Coric played with heavy tape around his upper right thigh, an injury he got treatment for earlier in the tournament.
Rublev finished with 17 winners and just eight unforced errors. He won 84-percent of his first serve points and only faced one break point chance on his serve.
Rublev now awaits the winner of the other semi-final between Hyeon Chung and Daniil Medvedev. The Final will be played on Saturday night. Coric will play in the third place match prior to the Final.
@Sportshorn
