Borna Coric first burst onto the scene as a teenage sensation tipped by many to be the next big thing in tennis.
At the age of 19, he became the youngest player to finish the 2015 season inside the world’s top 50 on the ATP Pepperstone rankings. The following year he became the youngest player in eight years to contest a World Tour Final and the youngest in a decade to reach a Masters 1000 quarter-final in Madrid.
Over the coming years, Coric has won three ATP titles so far in his career with the most prestigious occurring this summer at the Cincinnati Masters. He has also reached the final of another five tournaments, as well as the quarter-finals of the 2020 US Open.
There have also been challenges for the Croat throughout his career. A troublesome shoulder issue resulted in him undergoing surgery and missing 12 months of the Tour between 2021-2022. Despite the setback, he was determined to return to action as soon as he was able to.
“I just like tennis and I want to compete with the guys on the Tour. I like my lifestyle,” he said during a interview with Ubitennis in Tokyo.
“This was my main motivation, I knew I could come back and I just needed to work hard.”
Since starting his comeback from injury, the 25-year-old has won 16 matches against 10 losses on the Tour. Besides Cincinnati, he also reached the quarter-finals of the Hamberg Open and won a Challenger tournament in Italy. Slowly making progress towards a place inside the top 20 once again, Coric admits that he still has some pain in his shoulder but it is something he has grown accustomed to.
“There are going to be times when my shoulder is going to be hurting a little bit. I know I can not injure it more, it’s just going to be hurting a little bit and then the next morning it’s going to be aching. That’s pretty much it,” he explains.
“The only thing which I need to deal with is the pain. It is not going to get worse and I can’t damage anything. It is just going to be there sometimes.’
“As long as it’s not too often and like it was before I had surgery, it’s fine.”
Playing the Big Four, love for Wimbledon
Whilst he is yet to crack the top 10, Coric is one of a few players who has beaten three members of the Big Four multiple times in his career. He leads Rafael Nadal 3-2 in their head-to-head and has beaten both Andy Murray and Roger Federer twice. The only member of the group he is yet to get the better of is Novak Djokovic who he has lost to in all four of their encounters.
Nevertheless, Nadal and Djokovic remain the players to beat in Grand Slam events. Between them, they have won three out of the four Grand Slams this year. Carlos Alcaraz won the US Open.
“Back then it was mostly physical and also a bit of the mental side,” Coric said of the last time he played a member of the Big Four at a major.
“At the end of the day I haven’t played against them for a very long time in the Grand Slams so let’s see what happens next time. Maybe I play better, maybe I play worse. I’m not sure. I think I’m better physically than in 2015/2016 but you never know.”
Interestingly when it comes to Coric’s favourite Grand Slam and surface, his answer comes as a surprise to some. As a junior, he won the US Open boy’s title and the tournament is where he achieved his best result on a professional level. However, it is another tournament which he has labelled as the most special.
“It will probably be Wimbledon just because of the grass. It’s very special but probably the least chance I have of winning (out of the Grand Slams) because I am not as good on grass as the other surfaces and I didn’t play Wimbledon for the last three years. At the same time, it’s my favourite tournament and it has been my dream to win since I was a kid.” He said.
Coric has only ever won one match at Wimbledon but he hasn’t played there since 2018.
The last Croat to reach the final at SW19 was Marin Cilic in 2017 who has been somewhat of an Achilles heel for Coric over the years. He has a losing 0-8 record against Cilic who is almost nine years older than him.
“He just knows my game very well. Two times I felt like I was very close, I was unlucky. The other six times he was just playing great.” Coric said of his compatriot.
“When he plays at his best he’s right up there as the top five in the world.
“He’s my very good friend and we live in the same building and train a lot together.”
The full interview between Coric and Andras Ruszanov can be listened to below.
