Borna Coric knocks off Andy Murray to advance to semi-finals of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

DUBAI // On December 1 last year, Borna Coric introduced his 9,000 or so followers on Instagram to a new tattoo he got himself. Inked on the inside of the 18 year old’s right biceps were the words, “There is nothing worse in life than being ordinary”.

Thankfully, the young Croat will not have to suffer the ignominy of being ordinary, for he is clearly on his way to becoming extraordinary. His straight-sets win over Rafael Nadal in Basel last October, before his 18th birthday, provided ample evidence. Now, there is further confirmation.

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Playing some sensational tennis in front of an admiring crowd at a packed Aviation Club, Coric, who earned a ticket into the main draw as a lucky loser after Philipp Kohlschreiber’s late withdrawal, made another member of the Big Four, Andy Murray, look ordinary in a 6-1, 6-3 win to reach the last four of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

No wonder Novak Djokovic sees glimpses of himself in the youngster.

“Well, he’s definitely one of the most talented players right now in the world,” the world No 1 said on Wednesday. “He beat Nadal in Basel four or five months ago, and since that tournament you can feel he has matured a lot. He feels comfortable playing with top players.”

Practising with Djokovic here in December must have helped, as well. Twelve months earlier, Coric had spent 10 days training with Nadal, and his list of hitting partners includes Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and David Ferrer.

The top players have noticed his talents and have been taking him under their wing.

“I practiced with him a lot in the last two, three months,” Djokovic said. “I try to help him because I see, in a way, myself through him. I’ve never felt the way when I practice with somebody as I felt with him. It’s like playing myself, very similar game – great fighting spirit, disciplined, focused, committed, confident. Very young, but confident, which is important.”

That confidence was very much on display yesterday, even in the opening game. With Murray serving at deuce, Coric attempted an audacious drop shot from the back. The Scot managed to retrieve it and hold serve, but it was the only time he managed to do that in that opening set.

In his previous match against Joao Sousa, Murray did not face a single break point; against Gilles Muller in the first round, he saved three of the four break points he faced in the match.

Yesterday, in the opening set alone, the world No 3 was broken three times. On the other hand, Murray could win only two points in Coric’s three service games.

“I think he didn’t make many errors,” said Murray, who finished with 55 unforced errors to Coric’s 21. “I made way too many mistakes from the beginning of the match right through to the end, rushing points.

“But, yeah, he moved well, made a lot of balls, very few errors. Made it tough.”

Murray should have expected that. Many of Croatia’s current and former stars had warned about Coric’s abilities.

“Borna is going to be very, very good,” Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion who has worked with Coric since his early teens, told the ATP website last year. “He is very strong mentally for his age, he is fast and big occasions do not worry him.”

“He’s a warrior,” Mario Ancic, another former Croatian pro, told the ATP. “He will grind, he will bleed; he will find a way to win.”

The warrior part, again, should not be a surprise. Coric has grown up idolising the former boxing superstar Mike Tyson. The Zagreb native has watched all his fights on YouTube and hopes to try to his hand at professional boxing once his tennis career is over.

But that could be a long time away. For now, his focus will be on emulating his idol. Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight world champion at the age of 20.

If Coric can maintain his current progress, he should be a top 10 player, at least, at that age. His extraordinariness demands that.

arizvi@thenational.ae

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