Dubai: Borna Coric had been riding on a crest of good fortune all week. But the wave crashed for the lucky loser from Croatia as he came up against a bright and brilliant Roger Federer in the semifinals of the Dubai Open on Friday evening.
Federer, who has brought a game to match his orange neon tee in Dubai, romped to a 6-2, 6-1 victory in only 56 minutes to enter his ninth final here. He has won the ATP 500 event six times already and hasn’t been stretched for more than an hour in the four matches he has played so far.
For Coric, who was on a high after beating Andy Murray in the quarterfinals on Thursday, it was a reality check in big-boy tennis. Having beaten Rafael Nadal at the Swiss indoors in Basel last year, and the Murray victory here, Coric had said he had “literally nothing to lose” against Federer on Friday. And while he may have not lost much—making the semifinals after entering the main draw as a lucky loser was an achievement in itself—he learnt some valuable lessons from sharing court with the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
“I knew that it's going to be very tough.” Coric said after the match. “But when you come on the court and when you actually feel the ball and feel the pressure which he's making, it's actually been tougher than when you're watching it in the sofa in front of TV.”
“I was feeling yesterday like I won the Grand Slam, and then today I need to go out again after 24 hours and play against a guy who is ‐‐ we all know who he is. It's not easy, for sure. And also I was a little bit nervous with that, but I just need to be used to it,” he added.
Even though Federer rarely let up pressure on the youngster during the match, he was sympathetic towards the growing mound of expectations on Coric. The Croat is in the Novak Djokovic mould, an aggressive baseliner, and has had an eye-catching run in Dubai.
“I hope he's not going to be the next Novak,” the Swiss world no 2 said. “Don’t do that to him.”
“I believe he does actually play quite different, especially in terms of technique. Serve is totally different. But I do see what he means, you know. He's a bigger guy, probably same size and moves well off the baseline, especially towards the backhand side. Borna does a very good job.”
Federer, who has brought a game to match his orange neon tee in Dubai, romped to a 6-2, 6-1 victory in only 56 minutes to enter his ninth final here. He has won the ATP 500 event six times already and hasn’t been stretched for more than an hour in the four matches he has played so far.
For Coric, who was on a high after beating Andy Murray in the quarterfinals on Thursday, it was a reality check in big-boy tennis. Having beaten Rafael Nadal at the Swiss indoors in Basel last year, and the Murray victory here, Coric had said he had “literally nothing to lose” against Federer on Friday. And while he may have not lost much—making the semifinals after entering the main draw as a lucky loser was an achievement in itself—he learnt some valuable lessons from sharing court with the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
“I knew that it's going to be very tough.” Coric said after the match. “But when you come on the court and when you actually feel the ball and feel the pressure which he's making, it's actually been tougher than when you're watching it in the sofa in front of TV.”
“I was feeling yesterday like I won the Grand Slam, and then today I need to go out again after 24 hours and play against a guy who is ‐‐ we all know who he is. It's not easy, for sure. And also I was a little bit nervous with that, but I just need to be used to it,” he added.
Even though Federer rarely let up pressure on the youngster during the match, he was sympathetic towards the growing mound of expectations on Coric. The Croat is in the Novak Djokovic mould, an aggressive baseliner, and has had an eye-catching run in Dubai.
“I hope he's not going to be the next Novak,” the Swiss world no 2 said. “Don’t do that to him.”
“I believe he does actually play quite different, especially in terms of technique. Serve is totally different. But I do see what he means, you know. He's a bigger guy, probably same size and moves well off the baseline, especially towards the backhand side. Borna does a very good job.”
