BORNA CORIC STUNS RAFAEL NADAL IN SECOND-ROUND MARATHON IN CINCINNATI
BORNA CORIC STUNS RAFAEL NADAL IN SECOND-ROUND MARATHON IN CINCINNATI: Rafael Nadal’s comeback from an abdominal injury was cut short in Cincinnati on Wednesday night as he lost to comeback youngster Borna Coric in his first match back by a score of 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3. The match was Rafael Nadal’s first after returning from injury.
Credit – https://asianatimes.com/
Coric is currently rated No. 152 after missing the entire year between March of last year and March of this year with a shoulder injury. However, he was formerly ranked No. 12 and has been a thorn in Nadal’s side; this was his third win in five matches against the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
In the post-game interview, Coric described the moment as “very, very amazing.” “For the past two years, I have been absent. I didn’t get to perform on the main stage in front of a massive audience. To tell you the truth, all I was looking forward to was competing in this match, as I hadn’t had the opportunity to do so in the previous two years.
“Now obviously that I’ve won, it’s just, yeah, kind of crazy, I would say,” she said. “It’s just kind of insane.”
Nadal actually brought up two set points at 6-5 and 7-6, but Coric ultimately managed to sneak out the set victory. Things were neck and neck between the two from the start, with neither player moving on serve throughout the first set—before and after coming back from a rain delay with Nadal up 5-4—and there was little between them in the tie-break, too, with Nadal actually bringing up two sets points at 6-5 and 7-6.
After six more holds to start the second set, Rafael Nadal broke for 4-3 to break open the match again, and the two held from there until they were headed to a third set. However, Borna Coric broke for 4-2 in the deciding set, and he held until it was all over, finishing it off in style after two hours and 51 minutes with a huge inside-out forehand winner.
The win by Coric over Nadal, who was ranked third, was his tenth career victory over a player ranked in the top five, and it was his most significant victory in almost four years.
CORIC’S WINS OVER THE TOP 5 PLAYERS (10):
d. No. 3 Nadal in 2014 Basel QFs
d. No. 3 Murray in 2015 Dubai QFs
d. No. 5 Nadal in 2016 Cincinnati 3rd Rd
d. No. 1 Murray in 2017 Madrid 3rd Rd
d. No. 3 Zverev in 2018 Halle 1st Rd
d. No. 1 Federer in 2018 Halle F
d. No. 4 Del Potro in 2018 Shanghai 3rd Rd
d. No. 2 Federer in 2018 Shanghai SFs
d. No. 4 Thiem in 2020 ATP Cup RR
d. No. 3 Nadal in 2022 Cincinnati 2nd Rd
After the match, Nadal reflected on his performance by saying, “Well, obviously I didn’t play my greatest match.” Something that has the potential to take place. Indeed, throughout my career, I’ve had a lot of trouble winning this competition. The fact that Borna was able to play better after coming back from a difficult stretch is something that is simple to acknowledge and simple to congratulate him on. That sums it up nicely. Simply, congratulations to him!
Nadal was playing his first match since beating Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon on July 6th, exactly 42 days ago. He withdrew prior to his semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon due to an abdominal injury and had been recovering since then. Nadal’s match on Sunday was his first match since the injury.
It was also the Spaniard’s first match on hard courts in precisely 150 days, since he lost to Fritz in the final of another Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells on March 20. The encounter on Sunday was also the Spaniard’s first match on hard courts since March 20.
The United States Open, which will take place in two weeks, is the next competition that is set for the player who has held the number one ranking in the world. He has won this tournament four times, in 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2019.