The tournament in Dubai has been dominated by star players Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for the past decade and while the veterans continue to dazzle here, every once in a while, a young prospect sneaks in and tries to make an impression.
This year, that prospect is Croatia’s Borna Coric.
The 18-year-old is the youngest player in the top-100 and is this week enjoying a career-high ranking of 84.
Coric, who shocked Rafael Nadal in Basel en route to the semis there last October, only made it into the Dubai main draw as a lucky loser, after falling in a third set tiebreak in his final round of qualifying last Sunday to Frenchman Fabrice Martin.
It was a windy day, the sandstorm was in full swing and the inexperienced Coric couldn’t handle it. But he was given a second chance when Philipp Kohlschreiber pulled out of the tournament with an illness, and as the highest-ranked loser in the qualifying final round, Coric replaced the German in the main draw and took on Malek Jaziri yesterday.
Despite dropping the first set, Coric, who has a tattoo on his arm that reads ‘There is nothing worse in life than being ordinary’, fought back and beat the Tunisian 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
It was just his third win of the season and Coric admits 2015 hasn’t started the way he had hoped.
“It’s not easy. I didn’t have a great start of the season like I was planning. But I think that’s quite normal because I’m still very young,” Coric told Sport360 after his opening round win on Tuesday.
“I need to play some of these big matches so I can start to feel more comfortable. I need to wait and fight for every match and I’m sure it’s going to come.”
Of the four players aged 21 or younger who were in action yesterday, it is only Coric who made it to the second round in Dubai. Lucas Pouille fell to Simone Bolelli, Dominic Thiem lost to Roberto Bautista Agut and Alexander Zverev exited at the hands of Marsel Ilhan.
Against Jaziri, Coric knew he had beaten the Tunisian in their only previous meeting – a Challenger final in Turkey last year – which also had gone to three sets.
“It played a little bit in my head (that I beat him in Turkey). I already knew that I’ve beaten him once before in a long three-set match. But it’s a completely different story,” said Coric.
He faces a tricky opponent today in Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, a former Australian Open runner-up who is enjoying a bit of a resurgence this season.
“I’m quite good friends with Baghdatis. I know him quite well but he also knows me. He’s in really good form at the moment so it’s going to be a good match,” said Coric.
