Coric upsets Zverev in US Open slugfest

On an electric Grandstand court under lights, young gun Borna Coric outlasted fellow 20-year-old Alexander Zverev to reach the third round of the US Open.

Coric’s 3-6 7-5 7-6(1) 7-6(4) victory, completed in a sapping three-and-a-half hours, sets up a third-round meeting with the in-form Kevin Anderson.

The Croatian had fallen in the first round in four of his last five Grand Slam campaigns, yet had twice before – in 2015 and 2016 – advanced to the last 32 at Roland Garros.

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This, however, is by far his most notable result at a major tournament.

Zverev was, behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, one of the favourites for the title after winning lead-up tournaments in Washington DC and Montreal.

His victory in Canada, his second Masters 1000 title in a breakout season, came over Federer in the final and had helped propel him to a career-high ranking of No.6.

Yet again – as he did in Paris after winning the Rome Masters title – he flopped on the five-set stage of a Grand Slam event.

#4 Sascha Zverev is a world-beater…in best-of-3.

With loss to Coric he falls to a middling 13-14 career record in best-of-5.#usopen

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 31, 2017

“It’s upsetting, because draw is pretty open in bottom part. I should have been the favourite there, I just played a very bad match,” Zverev lamented.

“I know that I could have done some big things here. I know that I could have done something I haven’t done before. But I won’t.”

After a lean period after his quarterfinal in Madrid – Coric went 2-6 in his next eight matches – the 20-year-old found some form last week with a trip to the last eight in Winston-Salem.

He also came into the contest with a 1-0 head-to-head advantage over his contemporary and despite losing the first set, was never discouraged.

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“I think we are playing quite similar tennis pretty much, only he’s serving a little bit bigger than me,” Coric observed.

“In second set, I thought I started to play better and I started to serve much better. I was hitting the spots very good. Then last two sets, I mean, we were holding serves. In the important points, I was serving very good. I played some big points on three set points down. That’s it.”

Curiously, it was the smaller, less powerful Coric who was taking the initiative in the match’s plentiful lung-busting rallies while Zverev seemed content to retreat far behind the baseline and slug heavy, safe shots.

The German did produce some magic when he saved a set point in the second set with a backhand passing shot winner to end a long rally. But Coric broke serve despite this and levelled the match at a set apiece.

Croat @Borna_Coric beats A. Zverev as 16-year-olds in 2013 @USOpen juniors, 18-year-olds at 2015 @CincyTennis and 20-year-olds in #USOpen 2R

— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) August 31, 2017

Zverev held a collective seven break points across the seventh, ninth and eleventh games of the third set but couldn’t dent the Coric serve; the Croat dominated the ensuing breaker.

Zverev had more opportunities in the fourth, arriving at triple set point when he got up 0-40 on Coric’s serve in the 12th game.

Cue another Coric fightback.

He saved the first with a drop volley winner, the second with some extraordinary defence and escaped with a hold when Zverev couldn’t control his returns.

Deflated, Zverev played a messy tiebreak, and the patient Coric wrapped up a milestone victory.