Borna Coric aims to follow in the footsteps of Novak Djokovic

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  • Coric has a similar style to world No1 Djokovic.

    There must be something particularly special about you if people are comparing you to Novak Djokovic. Even the world No1 says he sees a lot of his younger self in Borna Coric – a weighty statement the 18-year-old Croatian is not shying away from.

    Coric, the youngest player in the top-50, has already registered wins over Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in his young career, and on Thursday, he hit a new milestone by beating Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo in five sets to reach the third round of a grand slam for the first time.

    Currently ranked No46 in the world and featuring in just his third grand slam main draw, Coric has caught the eye of many with his super-solid baseline game, his high-profile box that includes compatriot Goran Ivanisevic and new coach Thomas Johansson, and his spiky hair that is reminiscent of a teenage Djokovic.

    But looking closer at the young Coric, it is his maturity that strikes you the most. In Dubai after beating Marcos Baghdatis to make the quarter-finals, he tried to speed through an interview in the mixed zone as he wanted to go do his recovery work to be fresh for his Murray clash.

    Not many 18-year-olds would want to run towards an ice-bath but Coric knows it is one of the things that could lead him a career like Djokovic.

    “I’m trying to be like him (Djokovic),” Coric said with a smile, after beating Robredo, when asked about his discipline and professionalism. “I think if you want to be one of the best in the world, I think you need to have that kind of thing where you just know that you can’t do some things which you want to do.

    “I would like to have tiramisu now but I know that I just can’t. I would like to go out with my friends tonight, but I can’t because I’m playing on Saturday and I need to recover. For me this is quite normal, I was just born with it.”

    Coric, who faces Jack Sock on Saturday for a place in the Roland Garros fourth round, says he’s been that disciplined for “90 per cent” of his life and it sounds a lot like how Ernests Gulbis describes Djokovic when they were both young prospects at the Niki Pilic academy in Munich.

    Djokovic has practiced with Coric a few times in recent months and picks him out as one of the most promising upstarts on tour.

    “I like Coric and how he approaches the matches. He has a very mature mindset for somebody that is only 18. He does remind me of myself a little bit at that age. He’s a great fighter, very solid from the baseline, both sides. He does have a very professional, very mature way of approaching, not just matches, but the tennis life in general, which is nice to see for somebody his age,” said the Serbian top seed in Paris.

    Coric started working with former Australian Open winner, Johansson, last month and in the little time they’ve had together, the Swedish ex-world No7 has spotted the similarities between his student and Djokovic.

    “I think he’s very mature for an 18 year old. I haven’t seen a fighter like him before either, especially with the match against Robredo, the way he beat him in five sets was just very very impressive,” Johansson told Sport360 on Friday.

    “In Monaco, when Novak was 16, 17, 18 he was at the club a lot when Jonas Bjorkman and myself were practicing and sometimes in the end, we played some tennis with Novak. So I’ve seen Novak since he was 16 years old and of course I see similarities.

    “They are very very determined and they’re very mature at such a young age and they both want the same – there’s nothing in between. Borna wants to be No1 tomorrow. But everybody knows that’s going to take time, we have to go slowly.”

    Coric’s mentality separates him from many of the other young talents coming up on tour.

    “I wasn’t scared to lose,” he said of his five-setter with Robredo.

    He also draws confidence from the compliments the big guys seem to be showering on him, unlike Grigor Dimitrov, who had said in the past that the comparison with Roger Federer had “overwhelmed” him at times.

    “It means a lot when someone like him (Djokovic), who is one of the best in history, says such nice compliments about you. It definitely helps for the confidence that someone who is No1 in the world and played all these guys says that I can be the next big player. It’s very nice of him. It’s also nice of him that he wants to help me without getting anything back in return,” says Coric, who added that his relationship with Ivanisevic is also a huge help.

    “He (Ivanisevic) is my everything. He’s an unbelievable guy. I’ve known him since I was 13 years old. I watched him in Wimbledon when I was five. So it’s kind of a dream come true – I always ask him if he can come to my matches because it does mean a lot to me to have someone like him in my box just cheering for me. But I think mostly we are very good friends.”

    Coric could have a shot at Nadal should he and the Spaniard get through their third round matches. Against the 37th-ranked Sock, some are tipping Coric as the favourite today, but the Croatian teenager is having none of it.

    “Maybe you are going to expect, or someone else, but I don’t expect so much from myself. I’m 18 years old in the third round of a grand slam and I just beat a guy who was top 10 or top 15 for many years. I don’t have anything to lose even if maybe some people think I’m the favourite – which is okay.

    “I think our rankings are quite similar (me and Jack). It just depends on the day. I think there isn’t such a big difference between the top 50 players in the world. Just some consistency, but everyone can play well on the day,” said Coric.

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