A player who has had so many problems on a physical level, has returned to the ranks of the ATP circuit after a while and has quickly burned out. Borna Coric has not taken long to stand out on the circuit again and leave his mark: the Croatian tennis player triumphed at the Cincinnati Masters 1000, the last major event before the start of the 2022 US Open.
The 25-year-old showed a solid level of play and seemed to be in such good shape that he was able to make it to the bottom of the main draw in Ohio. The native of Zagreb defeated the Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the opening match, and then he went all out: the Spanish champion Rafael Nadal surrendered in the third set, while against his other rivals (all of them from the first row, like Roberto Bautista Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Cameron Norrie and Stefanos Tsitsipas) did not drop a single set.
A very nice achievement for the athlete after what he went through in the pits: his shoulder injury made him sink in the world ranking, but only "by the hair" Thanks to the victory in the United States, Coric made a remarkable jump in the rankings and was back in the top 30 within a week.
Many fans and insiders rejoiced at the return of the boy from 1996, who received much praise and congratulations in the days after his 7-6 6-2 final victory over the Greek. Among them was Serbian and Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic, who dedicated a beautiful social message to the Croatian.
In the story shared on Instagram, the Serb commented: "Well done champ, you totally deserved it!"
Novak Djokovic recalled the time his family had to make the paramount decision between keeping their Serbian nationality or giving it up to accept British citizenship.
“It was very tempting at that time for my parents, very, very tempting because of (to resolve the problems). My family and my parents would get a job, my family would have a house, I mean it was a great, great deal. I’m not saying that it would particularly be wrong if we did that.
Who knows where the journey would take us,” he said. Djokovic also stated that he was particularly keen about the switch as he would be subjected to unfamiliar surroundings. “It was mostly the decision of my parents to be honest, you know.
Yes, I was of course included and involved in the conversations. I personally didn’t feel it from the beginning because I said listen I don’t want to go and live in England. I don’t know anybody (there). I want to stay here with my friends, I have my school, I have my friends, I have my life, I have my country, I have my language, I have everything here. I just didn’t feel that I would feel (the) happiest there,” he revealed.
