Borna Coric signs a new blow to become the Cincinnati Masters 1000 champion, after defeating the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets (7-6(0), 6-2). The Croatian thus conquers his third ATP title and achieves his return to the Top 50 of the ranking, climbing more than 100 positions in the week.
A great final for this Cincinnati contest, between two players who did really well throughout the week. Stefanos Tsitsipas He arrived as the favorite for his category, with comfortable first rounds against Krajinovic and Schwartzman, and then beating complicated rivals such as Isner and Medvedev. The Greek wanted to lift his third Masters 1000 title, and the first on hard courts.
On your side, Borna Coric He came as the total revelation of the week, not because he doubted his level but because he seemed far from this level after so many stoppages due to injury. The Croatian, entered the table with a protected ranking, this week achieved the best victory of his career against Nadal, but he was not alone in that. After beating Rafa, he also took down Bautista, Auger-Aliassime and Norrie in a row to reach this final. Coric already had a final of this level under his belt (Shanghai 2018), and had not reached an ATP final since October 2020.
Between them, two backgrounds as professionals, with the history tied 1-1. The first had an abandonment of the Croatian in Rome 2018, while the last and most important was for Coric in the third round of the US Open 2020, on that occasion, Borna won one of the best matches of the year in five sets.
Coric alcanza the glory
A better start to the match for Tsitsipas, who began by breaking Coric’s serve, somewhat more in a hurry than normal, overwhelmed by the importance of this instance. Little by little, Borna let go of his tennis, trying to make the Hellenic play long points, without making so many mistakes. In this upward trend, the Croatian regained equality to not let his rival escape, remaining 3-4. In that eighth game, Coric needed to save another three break points, showing that he was going to put up a fight. Everything followed its equal course, knowing that a simple deconcentration meant giving the key advantage to the other. This story needed a tiebreak to define itself, and there, Borna was superior from the beginning and took it 7-0.
Once again Tsitsipas came out pressing, and now he generated three break chances in the first game of the second set. A strengthened Coric after winning the first set, not only saved those opportunities but then began to play looser from the return as well, prioritizing the depth of the shots over the power. Great level of tennis from both, with almost no mistakes. The Croatian took a great level to make a break that would be fundamental, and place himself 5-2 up. Finally, Coric sentenced the story with a resounding 6-2 defining.