Borna Coric goes as one of the hot outsider tips into the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Vienna. Milos Raonic, on the other hand, is still looking for the form of the earlier years.
By Jens Huiber from Vienna
The early experimental arrangement on Sunday on the #NextGen-Court in the Vienna Stadthalle: A Croatian legend, a Croat with a great future and a strong present, a Canadian with Montenegrin roots – and Ricardo Piatti. Borna Coric’s coach observed his protégé’s training session with Milos Raonic and his coach Goran Ivanisevic. And yet he could probably not follow every linguistic nuance. Official language Croatian.
Whereby Ivanisevic does not stand out as a chatterbox, the understanding with Raonic is either blind or no longer present. The 2001 Wimbledon winner has twice been successful at the Stadthalle, at a time when the final was still being played in best-of-five mode. In 1997 Ivanisevic and Greg Rusedski went full distance together, four years earlier four sets were enough against Thomas Muster. Two years ago, the 47-year-old showed that he is connected to Vienna when he served in the second edition of Tie Break Tens against active greats such as Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
As a coach Goran Ivanisevic has so far chosen players at eye level: Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych, now Milos Raonic. They are all professionals who have their strengths in opening up the game, just like Ivanisevic in his active time. At Raonic, this no longer works at the level of recent years, due to several injuries. The Asian trip was therefore sobering, with the quarter-final out in Tokyo against Daniil Medvedev and the first-round bankruptcy in Shanghai against Mackenzie McDonald.
If you read the statistics of the semi-final of Shanghai a few days ago, you might think that Borna Coric is also a rocket launcher. The 21-year-old man from Zagreb did not allow a single break point against Roger Federer, and had the Swiss player under control at all times in two smooth sets. Not only with the serve, but also from the baseline. Coric is placed sixth in Vienna, opening against Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Raonic on the other hand will be part of Jürgen Melzer’s single farewell party, only questionable in which role. The fact that the Austrian legend will prevail against the Canadian in round one requires some imagination. Which the spectators will surely bring to the Stadthalle. Melzer said at the draw that he will often change sides, of unfinished things, because he will probably hear Raonic’s serves more than he will play.
The good news for Melzer, but also for players like Borna Coric: The run at the Erste Bank Open 2018 is not comparable to that of Goran Ivanisevic’s weddings. In 1997 a socially acceptable jump was the exception, nowadays almost all types of players have a chance in Vienna.
Coric rather than Raonic, not only the training impressions, but also the results of the last weeks convey that. A more serious re-enactment of Sunday’s unity could, by the way, already take place on Friday. The quarter finals in Vienna have been announced.
Here the single tableau in Vienna