ATP: Indian Wells: “New” Borna Coric ahead of semi-final duel with Roger Federer

Borna Coric reaches the semi-finals of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career. Before the eagerly awaited clash with Roger Federer takes place on Saturday in Indian Wells (from 7 pm in the LIVE Center), the Croatian explains why he is finally getting better again.

Not too long ago Borna Coric was mentioned in the same breath as Alexander Zverev. If the highly gifted met at eye level in 2014/15, the careers of the two #NextGen stars could hardly have been more different in the past two years.

Coric, already number 33 in the world at the age of 18, stagnated in its development, while Zverev advanced to the absolute top of the world in 2017. The now 21-year-old Croatian had indicated early on that even greats like Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray need not be an insurmountable obstacle – in 2014 he won against the Spaniard in Basel, the following year the Briton had no chance in Dubai.

Things should not continue at this pace: Coric settled down in the world rankings in the regions between 40 and 60. Maybe I’ve set myself the wrong goals,” Coric tells ATPWorldTour.com, self-critically,”I can’t get into the top 20 because I want to, I have to work for it.

He had learned not to get too attached to the ranking, but rather to focus on improving his own game.

Coric now reaps the first fruits of his change of heart in Indian Wells: Against Donald Young, Dubai champion Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Cuevas, Riccardo Piatti’s and Kristijan Schneider’s protégé only gave away eight games in the first rounds. In the quarter-finals, too, the world ranking-49. but was lost to Kevin Anderson in the first set:

“I just accepted that he plays well and I don’t. “I’m much calmer on the court now, the constant ups and downs are a thing of the past.”

Whether the”new” Coric is ready for the ultimate challenge remains to be seen in the semi-finals. However, the strong youngster from Zagreb has never won against Roger Federer, the undefeated world number one this season – but there was only one opportunity: the “Maestro” in Dubai in 2015 gave him three modest games to play.

“I don’t have to say much about Roger, we all know him,” says Coric,”I just look forward to the match and see what the day brings me.”

Here the single tableau of the men in Indian Wells