Borna Coric is happy with Jannik Sinner’s game: ‘That’s why he plays tennis’ | ATP Tour

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Coric happy with Sinner’s match: ‘That’s why you play tennis’

Read about the history of Coric and Sinner

August 08, 2024

Jannik Sinner conquered the world of tennis in 2024. Few players knew the storm was coming before Borna Coric.

The two men, who will meet on Thursday in the second round of the Omnium Banque National presented by Rogers, have known each other since they were growing up and trained at the school of the famous trainer Riccardo Piatti. Now they will face off in one of the biggest stages in the world, at the Montreal ATP Masters 1000 event.

“That’s why you play tennis, that’s why I train. I think it’s the same for everyone. So, it’s a great pleasure, and it will be a great test to see where I am,” said Coric. “Now, it’s obvious that he’s a big favorite. He is playing unbelievable tennis this year. But I always like a good challenge and it will be a lot of fun, for sure. ”

Coric and Sinner enjoyed different levels of success in 2024. The Croatian coach admitted it has been a struggle for him, especially during the clay court season, where he compiled a 2-5 record according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

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The former No. 12 player in the PIF ATP Rankings felt that his form was there at the beginning of the year on the hard courts, but the results did not come. Then on clay, where he usually feels good, Coric did not.

That did not stop the 27-year-old player from working hard to put himself in a position to take advantage of an opportunity like the one he will get from Sinner. He will try to surprise the star who won his first major title at the Australian Open and later climbed to World No.

Their first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash took place two years ago in Monte-Carlo, where Sinner emerged victorious 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

“I remember that honesty was not that good. I think we played in Monaco, I lost in three sets. I remember he was also struggling. I didn’t play well. “He didn’t play very well,” said Coric. “It was very nice [sloppy] compare, I would say. I don’t think he’s happy with his level either, but he managed to win in the end.”

Coric believes that he met Sinner for the first time in 2017 or 2018 and that in the next few years, “he improved a lot in all aspects of the game”.

“If you see improvement, this guy has been putting in the work and the attitude that he needs to improve again [that] he needs to do other things better,” said Coric. “A lot of respect for him.”

What exactly has the 22-year-old improved on since his early days at Piatti’s academy?

“He just sticks to his game plan and his games. Obviously, [he is a] very, very hard working man,” said Coric. “When I first saw him, he had an amazing hand, great skill, and he worked well. And now he’s one of the best servers on Tour, I’d say, and he’s an incredible mover as well. He was not moving well when I first saw him. So, he improved a lot in those three, four years.”

The win would change Coric’s entire season. With 19 wins against Top 10 opponents on his resume, the Montreal player, who defeated Pedro Martinez in the first round of the main draw, will try to add number 20 to the list.

“I’m going to enjoy it,” Coric said. “I am happy with my level of tennis so far, I hope it will be a good match.”