Borna Coric admitted Stefanos Tsitsipas was the better player at the start of their Cincinnati final but added he was glad that he was able to turn things around and win “a very tough” final. In the Cincinnati Masters final, Coric upset fourth-seeded Tsitsipas 7-6 (0) 6-2 to win his first Masters title.
“It was a very, very tough match. At the beginning I wasn’t playing very well and he was pushing me very hard. But I started to serve better and play better and I was fighting hard,” Coric said after his win, per the ATP website.
“Then in the second set I thought I played the best set of the whole year”.
Coric closed out Tsitsipas in straight sets
Coric got off to a very slow start to the match as Tsitsipas claimed an early break and a 3-0 lead.
But Coric was able to recover from a slow start, breaking back Tsitsipas in the seventh game to cut the deficit to 4-3. In the following game, Coric saved three break points to tie the set to four games apiece. In the 11th game, Coric missed out on a break point as the first set eventually went into a tie-break.
Tsitsipas started the tie-break with a double fault and it appeared to be a big mental blow since he didn’t win a single point in the tie-break. After winning a tight first set, Coric broke Tsitsipas twice in the second set to complete a two-set win.
“Thank you to my parents, who are not here, my sister and my team. It has been very tough for us,” Coric added. “With my physio, if I didn’t have him I wouldn’t be on the court… Then of course to my tennis coach, Mate.
We have been working very hard and now we are here”. Coric, who was the 152nd-ranked player last week, is now the 29th player.
