For Borna Coric, Montpellier Victory Brings Both Joy And Relief

Borna Coric, ATP Tour, Montpellier
Borna Coric (photo: Open Sud de France)

MONTPELLIER/WASHINGTON, February 1, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

When Borna Coric secured his first tour-level quarterfinal since last summer at the Open Sud de France on Thursday, after hitting a satisfying backhand winner to defeat Pedro Martinez of Spain, 6-4, 6-0, the look on the 37th-ranked Croatian’s face revealed not only the joy of victory but also one of relief.

While it’s great to see Coric back fit and healthy, again, one can only hope it stays that way. After all, he’s been through more than his share of physical misfortunes the past couple of years.

Since turning pro in 2013, the 27-year-old from Zagreb has already been awarded ATP Newcomer of the Year (2014) and ATP comeback Player of the Year (2022). However, Coric has also gone under the knife to have his right knee and right shoulder repaired and struggled with hamstring, abdominal and back injuries, too.

When Coric has been free of injuries, he’s been a quality Top 50 player. Coric has been ranked as high as No. 12 back in 2018, the same year he led Croatia to the Davis Cup title. Coric has also won more than 200 matches (212-177) at tour level and garnered three titles, including the 2022 Cincinnati Masters. Last summer, he and Donna Vekic won the Hopman Cup for Croatia.

This season, after splitting two matches at the United Cup – beating Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor and losing to Casper Ruud of Norway – Coric lost his opening-round match at the Australian Open to No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States, 6-3, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3. Afterward, Coric dropped down to the ATP Challenger Tour circuit to play in a Challenger 125 indoor hard-court event in Ottignies-Louvain-La Neuve, Belgium. There, he strung together four quality wins to reach the final before losing to Leandro Riedi of Switzerland, 7-5, 6-2.

In his first match this week in Montpellier, Coric wasted little time by going up a break against the 99th-ranked Martinez after just three games. Then, he outplayed the Spaniard, both mentally and physically, in the second set. Soon, he rode a double-break 4-0 lead to his second tour-level victory of the young season.

Against Martinez, Coric played solidly throughout the one-hour, 34-minute match as evidenced by his eight service aces and 77 percent efficiency rate in winning points on his first serve. He saved all four break points he faced and converted four of seven break-point opportunities. Coric outpointed his opponent 66-48 to make it back-back quarterfinals in the Occitanie.

“I started to feel better and I started to play better as well,” Coric said in his on-court interview. “I knew I needed to finish early. I’ve played a lot of matches recently, so I was a little bit tired. I wanted to win as soon as possible so I can do my recovery.”

Thursday’s victory advanced Coric to the 45th tour-level quarterfinal (20-24) of his career and first since reaching the Winston-Salem Open semifinals in 2023. It’s Coric’s first quarterfinal on an indoor hard court since last year at Montpellier, when he lost to American Maxime Cressy.

“I really want to go to the semifinals [here] once,” Coric admitted. “I love coming back here. The crowds are good and I always enjoy my time here. After Australia and Belgium, it’s like a vacation for me.”

On Friday, Coric will get his chance to earn a semifinal berth when he faces No. 76 Flavio Cobolli of Italy, who mastered No. 106 Constant Lestienne of France, 6-4, 6-1, in an hour and 20 minutes. Cobolli, 21, converted five of eight break-point chances to earn his second career tour-level quarterfinal slot and first on a hard court.

Auger-Aliassime wins thriller over hometown hero Cazaux

No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada gained a massive win over hometown hero Arthur Cazaux, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (4), in two hours and 48 minutes before a raucous crowd that filled Patrice Dominguez Court inside Sud de France Arena Thursday evening. The victory lifted Auger-Aliassime into his first quarterfinal of the season following a third-round finish at the Australian Open, and it spoiled the 83rd-ranked Cazaux’s Montpellier homecoming.

On more than one occasion, at a set apiece, the 30th-ranked Auger-Aliassime looked down and out in the final set. Twice he trailed the 21-year-old Cazaux by a break. Soon, the Frenchman served for the match at 5-4, but was unable to seal the victory.

Instead, Auger-Aliassime broke Cazaux at love to deadlock the third set at 5-all. Then, after he was unable to close out the win on his first match-point opportunity, ahead 6-5 (40-ad) on Cazaux’s serve, Auger-Aliassime relied upon his experience to navigate his way through the decisive tiebreaker.

During the tie break, the Canadian raced to 4-1 advantage, pressuring Cazaux into making some costly unforced forehand errors, and never let up. On his second match point, ahead 6-4, Auger-Aliassime won after Cazaux hit a fifth-shot forehand return that went long. The loss denied Cazaux of advancing to his first tour-level quarterfinal as well as a second Top 30 triumph after beating the -World No. 8 Holger Rune of Denmark in the second round of the Australian Open.

“It was a crazy match,” Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. “Arthur came up with the goods. He served amazing, he played amazing when he needed to. Honestly, I was playing great tennis and, then, he just raised his level and played an unbelievable game to break me in the second set. He kept playing well — serving well — and I had to stay calm and find a way to just stay in the match and give myself a chance.”

Auger-Aliassime’s triumph lifted him into his 45th tour-level quarterfinal and first since winning his fifth ATP Tour title at Basel last October. He overcame 12 aces from Cazaux and five breaks of his serve to outpoint his opponent 96-95 to earn his third win of 2024. Auger-Aliassime improved to 8-1 versus Frenchmen since the start of the 2022 season, and will face another 21-year-old French competitor in Friday’s quarterfinal, 144th-ranked Harold Mayot.

“You have to stay very focused and composed,” Auger-Aliassime admitted, “and not let the emotions [overtake you]. Obviously, we feel emotions as players, but you can’t let the emotions get the best of you. I think I did that well today considering the crowd. It was a great atmosphere, to be honest. I enjoyed my time even if I had lost. It was a great match.”

Top seed Rune earns 100th ATP Tour win

No. 1 seed Holger Rune of Denmark earned his 100th career ATP Tour victory with a scrappy 7-5, 6-2 win over 156th-ranked qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz of Spain in 86 minutes. The World No. 7 Rune, who won on his second match point, will face No. 133 Michael Mmoh of the United States in Friday’s quarterfinal round.

Rune became the second Danish player to achieve 100 career ATP Tour victories following Kenneth Carlsen, who reached 266 wins between 1992-2007, and his win over Llamas Ruiz advanced him to his second quarterfinal of the season and 22nd of his career.

“It was a battle, especially in the first set,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “There were some tight moments, but I’m happy to be back in Montpellier and playing some good tennis. … Sometimes, it it’s not always pretty but it’s about getting it done.”

Rune, who converted four of 13 break-point chances, outpointed Llamas Ruiz 70-58 to improve to 6-2.

Around the Open Sud de France

No. 6 seed Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan went the distance for the second straight day and reached the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 win over No. 104 Gregoire Barrere of France in an hour and 59 minutes. The 59th-ranked Shevchenko was broken twice and converted just one of seven break-point chances against the Frenchman. However, it was good enough to win and it set up a quarterfinal against fellow Russian-born Kazakh No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik on Friday.

Doubles No. 1 seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France advanced to the semifinals with a 7-5, 2-6, 13-11 win over French wild cards Gregoire Barrere and Lucas Pouille. Next, Doumbia and Reboul, who are No. 21 in the ATP Live Rankings, will face Great Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool and Henry Patten. The British duo advanced by walkover against Alexander Bublik and Alexander Shevchenko.

Also, No. 4 seeds Albano Olivetti of France and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn of Austria advance to the semifinals with a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 10-5 win over Pedro Martinez of Spain and Alexandre Muller of France. Next, they will play unseeded Robin Hasse of the Netherlands and Petr Nouza of the Czech Republic.

Thursday’s Open Sud de France results

Friday’s Open Sud de France order of play

By the numbers

Pedro Martinez dropped to 11-35 versus Top 50 opponents on tour-level after losing to No. 37 Borna Coric on Thursday. He is still seeking first Top 50 win since defeating No. 43 Sebastian Baez at Pune last year.

“Quotable …”

“Dennis is a former Top 10 player on the way back from injury. Playing him was a disaster the first couple of sets. But I was lucky at the end. I used my chances and I got the win. So, I’m really happy.”

— No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, during his on-court interview after defeating Denis Shapovalov of Canada, 1-6, 7-6 (12), 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinal round. On Friday, Bublik will face No. 6 seed Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan.

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