Comeback of the year? Borna Coric would think so. The #NextGenATP star completed a magical rally to take his maiden ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the Grand Prix Hassan II. Coric overcame third seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5 for the Marrakech crown, storming back from a break down in both the second and third sets and saving five championship points in dramatic fashion. Coric is the third player from the current #NextGenATP contingent to lift an ATP World Tour trophy, joining Alexander Zverev (St. Petersburg 2016 & Montpellier 2017) and Karen Khachanov (Chengdu 2016). Runner-up in Marrakech last year, the Croatian fired 10 aces to defeat Kohlschreiber after two hours and 38 minutes. It was the longest...
Tenth seed David Goffin left no room for sentiment on Sunday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters when he overcame fellow Belgian Steve Darcis 6-2, 6-1 in 72 minutes. Goffin, who also beat his compatriot at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open in February, lost just three of his second service points (18/21) for his 20th match win of the season. "I played well from the start," said Goffin, who will next play Nicolas Almagro or a qualifier. "We had long rallies [and] I was solid. I made him run a lot. I was playing very well tactically. I was playing the right way. I was able to protect my serve with my second serve. I was very solid. I'm very happy...
American Steve Johnson advanced to his third career ATP World Tour final on Saturday after beating his red-hot compatriot Jack Sock 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston. The 27-year-old Johnson came back from a break down in the third set to gain his second career win against Sock, who became the first 20-match winner on the ATP World Tour in 2017 on Friday. “Any time you can play on a Sunday in a tournament, it's a good week,” Johnson said. “It's my first final on U.S. soil... It's fun to get a chance to try to win something on home soil.” Johnson will try to win his second career ATP...
Exactly one year ago, Borna Coric made a statement on the clay of Marrakech in reaching his second ATP World Tour final. Coric finished runner-up to Federico Delbonis on that day, but the #NextGenATP Croatian will have another shot at the Grand Prix Hassan II title when he faces Philipp Kohlschreiber on Sunday. In a battle of former recipients of the ATP Star of Tomorrow Award, presented by Emirates, Coric (2014 winner) downed Jiri Vesely (2013) 6-4, 6-4 in Saturday's first semi-final. The 20 year old needed one hour and 22 minutes to prevail, firing six aces and saving both break points faced. "It was a very good match for me," said Coric. "My best on the clay season so...
Dominic Inglot and Mate Pavic notched their first team title in their first tournament together, celebrating a 6-4, 2-6, 11-9 triumph over Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez in the Grand Prix Hassan II final on Saturday. For Inglot, it was his seventh ATP World Tour title and the Brit's first of the season. His most recent crown had come in St. Petersburg last year with current World No. 1 Henri Kontinen. Pavic, meanwhile, claimed his sixth ATP World Tour doubles title and first since lifting the 's-Hertogenbosch trophy in 2016 with Michael Venus. "This is the first we played together and we had a great week," said Inglot. "Mate played very well. The level was extremely high, almost like at...
