Coric claims #NextGen showdown.
WHAT HAPPENED: Perhaps no one came to New York carrying weightier expectations than Germany’s Alexander Zverev. But amidst a power vacuum that saw five of the world’s top 11 players sidelined by injuries, including both finalists from 2016, the US Open draw sure opened up in a hurry. And the 20-year-old wunderkind — whose five titles on the year are matched only by Roger Federer and include Masters 1000 crowns in Rome and Montreal — suddenly found himself a trendy pick.
That pressure may have taken a toll. On Day 3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, an error-prone Zverev was upset by 61st-ranked Borna Coric of Croatia, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 7-6, in three hours and 26 minutes.
“I just wanted to make my first serves, because I was struggling physically,” said Coric, who notched the sixth Top-10 win of his career. “I tried to make the points shorter and to go for more than I usually go for. He’s had an unbelievable year, so it means a lot to me to win this match.”
It was a matchup of former junior rivals. They had met in the US Open boys’ semifinals in 2013 with Coric winning, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, en route to the title. The Croat rose to the top of the ITF Junior Circuit rankings that same year, only to be usurped by Zverev seven weeks later. In 2015, Coric once again defeated Zverev, this time on the ATP Tour level in Cincinnati. As 20-year-olds, they would meet again on Wednesday in the Grandstand, the stakes bigger than ever.
Zverev asserted his lanky, free-flowing, 6-foot-6 game in the opening set, a break for 4-2 providing him with all the cushion he would need.
But Coric was anything but done. Serving at 5-6 in the second, Zverev managed to save one set point with a thunderous down-the-line backhand pass. But the No. 4-seeded German couldn’t save a second, and the match was suddenly level. Highlighted by an epic 39-ball ground exchange that saw Coric fight off a break point at 3-all with a nifty drop shot, the 67-minute third set would go the Croatian baseliner’s way, too. Twenty-two of Zverev’s 58 unforced errors would come in that stanza alone.
Neither player will be pleased when they check the stat sheets and eye the all-important "break points won" column. Coric managed to convert just one of his seven opportunities. Zverev, meanwhile, was one for 11, and none were more costly than the three he squandered with Coric serving at 0-40, 5-6 in the fourth set. Given new life, Coric then surged ahead 6-4 in the telltale tiebreak, and pumped his fists when a Zverev backhand subsequently sailed long to seal the match.
Coric, who registered 31 winners, is amongst a talent-packed #NextGen collective that includes Zverev, Frances Tiafoe (who on Day 2 extended Federer to five sets), Denis Shapovalov, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz, Hyeon Chung and others. But since climbing to a career-high No. 33 in the summer of 2015, Coric has stalled somewhat, and this year fell as low as No. 79.
Perhaps his win over Zverev will prove a turning point.
WHAT IT MEANS: Coric moves on to a third-round clash with power server Kevin Anderson. He’s winless in two previous encounters with the 6-foot-8 veteran South African.
MATCH POINT: Coric has yet to reach the fourth round of a major. Is he ready to break into new territory in New York?
