Dubai: Losing semi-finalist Borna Coric of Croatia was left marvelling on the fruits of an amazing week at the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open for him.
Coric became the youngest player in the 23-year history of the tournament to reach a semi-final on Thursday following his straight sets win against world number three Andy Murray. Barely 24 hours later, he was handed a masterclass by world number two Roger Federer - who took under one hour to complete an emphatic 6-2, 6-1 win.
When the Emirates ATP Rankings are next announced on Monday, Coric is expected to jump to No.61 or 62 from his current No.84, riding solely on his second career ATP World Tour semi-final in Dubai. The lesson learnt, Coric stayed focused on what he needed to do to get even better.
“With my ranking going up I’m going to be in the main draw of all ATP tournaments and even maybe some of the 500 tournaments, so that’s the best thing,” Coric said.
“But also I showed to myself that I can play with the best guys, with the top 50 guys, top 70. I also beat Andy Murray, so I showed to myself that I can play. Like I said before, I need to be on 100 per cent mentally tennis-wise and also physically, and today I just wasn’t good enough,” the teen lamented.
A bit sore after coming through as a lucky loser, Coric did not blame it on fatigue. “I was feeling okay. I was feeling much better yesterday, but that’s the tennis, and it’s not an excuse. But I did feel a little bit sore,” he added.
Coric found it difficult to re-charge psychologically following his win against Murray the previous day. “I was feeling yesterday like I won the Grand Slam, and then today I need to go out again after 24 hours and play against a guy who is - we all know who he is. It’s not easy, for sure. I was a little bit struggling with that, but I just need to be used to it,” he said.
However, he still left realising a long-cherished dream. “This is almost a dream-come-true. I was watching him since I was I think maybe six or seven. I was watching him play Wimbledon, playing all the slams and I was saying ‘I wish I could play with him one day’ and today I was playing against him. Obviously I didn’t do so well, but I wasn’t expecting
too much,” he added.
