PARIS, May 24, 2016
Borna Coric emerged victorious from the battle of the young guns with Taylor Fritz in the opening round at Roland Garros. The 19-year-old Croat won 82% of his first service points, hitting five aces. Coric didn’t lose his serve and capitalized on seven of his 20 break point chances to seal a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory in one hour and 44 minutes.
“The result might look easy but it was a tough match. I only felt in the second set that I was the better player on court today. There were some close games, which decided the match in the end,” Coric was happy afterwards and added that this has been his best match on clay court so far.
“I don’t think that clay court is the best surface for Taylor. I think that I also like those kind of conditions here more than him. The court was pretty slow but he is a great player.”
Coric reached two finals on ATP level this year, finishing runner-up in Marrakech and Chennai.
“Of course, it is a goal to win my first ATP title but I also want to focus on bigger tournaments in the future. So I do not want to play a tournament before a major or Masters event, as it is not easy when you only arrive on a Sunday and you have to play the next day. The big tournaments like Roland Garros are only once in a season and when you miss the chance to perform well, you have to wait for the next year.”
Fritz was obviously disappointed.
Taylor Fritz
“I think I played allright but he made it really uncomfortable for me today and he was just too good today. He didn’t really give me anything, no mistakes. I had to do a lot for gaining a point.”
Fritz captured the Roland Garros juniors title last year and returned to Paris after 12 months entering the main draw of the senior’s level directly.
“That definetely surprised me getting into the main draw so quickly. I am excited to be here. I could have played some Challengers in Asia, where I could have won a lot more matches but I made the decision to play Rome, Madrid and Paris. I figured how the development goes and it will be the most beneficial for me in the long run to play the ATP clay courts at this time of the year.”
About his challenges he has to face, Fritz told:
“You always have to improve your level. It is your job, your profession. It is the best experience for me being on clay here, as I do not have the opportunity in the U.S. Playing good tournaments on big stages. I surpassed the goals for this year and next step for me is to break into the top 50. I would have loved to achieve this by the end of the grass court season but unfortunately I didn’t perform so well on clay but I want to enter ATP level tournaments directly.
“I wanted to be Guadeloupe my last Challenger. Hopefully if my ranking allows it, I will be able to play ATP tournaments. I am staying here in Paris the next week and then Stuttgart, Halle and Nottingham,” the US-American teenager said.
