Borna, again! Coric earns third consecutive victory over Tsitsipas in Vienna

Croat Borna Coric advanced to the last eight of the Vienna Open by edging out Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the second seed, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) at the Wiener Stadthalle on Thursday evening.

Coric, ranked No 27, will face Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the No 5 seed, next.

The world No 27 has enjoyed significant success against Tsitsipas of late, taking each of their last three meetings, starting with an epic victory at the US Open in 2020 in which he saved six match points to win 6-7(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). Since then Coric has topped Tsitsipas in the Cincinnati final (7-6, 6-2).

“He was playing to fast for me” in the first set

He says the plan is simple against the Greek: just keep fighting.

“He was playing too fast for me [in the first set] and then in the second set I was a break down. I felt I was a little bit unlucky with that game when I when I lost it but then I was just saying to myself ‘I need to fight and I need to keep fighting hard.'”

“That’s what I did in the end, that’s what I always do to be honest.”

Coric added that he likes the matchup with Tsitsipas – something about facing the Greek just brings out the best in him.

“I just think in every match against him I always play my best tennis and he does bring the best out of me –  he’s an absolutely unbelievable player,” he said, adding:

“I also just like playing against him as well. I think it’s a really, really good matchup as well.”

The Croat won against French qualifier Quentin Halys (3-6, 7-5, 6-3) in the previous round at Vienna.

In the first round of the Vienna, Tsitsipas, ranked No 5, defeated Austrian wildcard Dennis Novak (7-6 (2), 6-2).

Vienna ATP 500, other second-round results (Wiener Stadthalle, EUR 2.349.180, most recent results first):

• Jannik Sinner (6) beat Francisco Cerundolo: 7-5, 6-3
• Daniil Medvedev (1) beat Dominic Thiem: 6-3, 6-3
• Hubert Hurkacz beat Emil Ruusuvuori: 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
• Andrey Rublev vs. Grigor Dimitrov: thursday
• Marcos Giron beat Cameron Norrie (7): 6-3, 6-4
• Denis Shapovalov beat Taylor Fritz (4): 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
• Daniel Evans beat Karen Khachanov: 6-2, 6-2

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