MONTECHIARUGOLO-PARMA, June 18, 2022
Borna Coric has reached the final of the Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup ATP Challenger Tour 125 event in Montechiarugolo-Parma, recording his best result since his comeback to the circuit in March. The 25-year-old Croat, who was sidelined from the courts for one year due to a shoulder injury in spring last year, showed a solid display of tennis against No. 2 seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.
Coric, who entered the €134,920 clay-court event, being held at the Tennis Club President, saved the only break point he faced and capitalized on three of his own five break-point chances to secure a 6-1, 7-5 victory on Saturday evening.
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“I played smart today,” Coric told Tennis TourTalk afterwards. “We met a couple of weeks ago in Madrid and I lost 6-4 in the third set. My level of tennis went up and I think this has been my best match since my comeback from injury.”
The former World No. 12, who dropped to 255th position in the ATP Rankings, had to experience tough times without playing tennis.
“It was definitely not easy. The first couple of months I actually didn’t mind, as I also needed some rest and I was very tired from playing tennis since I was five. But after a couple of months I wanted to get back on the tour. My shoulder was not allowing me that. So I am very happy to be here, being able to play tennis almost pain-free now. That’s the most important thing. It’s good to have many matches this week, as I lost many times in the first rounds. That’s why I decided to come to Challengers to get some wins. That’s basically what I need now,” said Coric and is looking forward to the title match.
“Being in a final means a lot to me. I was out for a long time. I entered this tournament not in the best shape, so I didn’t know what to expect but in the end I was fighting hard in every match. I played well and my level improved match by match.”
Borna Coric 🇭🇷 is back, reaches his first championship match since October 2020.
In the final of the Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup in Parma 🇮🇹 he will face Elias Ymer 🇸🇪 and is seeking his third @ATPChallenger career crown after Izmir 2014 and Barranquilla 2015. #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/hItscSBxRv
— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) June 18, 2022
Ymer knocks out Cecchinato
Coric will face Elias Ymer of Sweden in the final, who rallied from a set down to overcome home favourite Marco Cecchinato 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. The World No. 148 sent down five aces and won 67 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after two hours and nine minutes.
Coric and Ymer will meet for the first time. The Zagreb native could claim his third ATP Challenger career crown, his first since Barranquilla 2015. It could be Coric’s first trophy since his biggest triumph at the ATP 500 grass-court event in Halle four years ago. Ymer is bidding for his seventh Challenger title, his first since Pune in November 2018.
Darderi/Romboli triumph in doubles
Earlier in the day, Luciano Darderi of Italy and Brazilian Fernando Romboli captured the doubles title. In a final between two unseeded teams, the pair defeated Denys Molchanov from the Ukraine and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia 6-2, 6-3.
By winning their first team title, Darderi and Romboli split €7,870 in prize money and earned 125 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
